LABOR MULTIPLICITY IN PARELHAS / RN: AN ANALYSIS OF MINING WORKERS
agriculture, health, pluriactivity.
The man of the semiarid must be prepared to withstand the periods of drought. In this sense, they associate different activities to make feasible the multiplicity of income sources, thus avoiding dependence on climatic conditions, with mining being an alternative activity for the rural workers. The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between mining and agriculture, to draw a profile of the workers that perform mining activity in the municipality of Parelhas/RN to evaluate their labor characteristics, as well as to verify what activities are performed by these individuals, associating the most vulnerable to existing public policies. Bibliographic and documentary research and form applied by the Health Family Program (PSF - Programa Saúde da Família) in 2007 were used to reach these objectives. The results showed that there is an intrinsic relationship between mining and agriculture in Rio Grande do Norte and, more specifically, in the microregion of the Eastern Seridó. In Parelhas it was possible to perceive that the workers who perform activities of mineral base are also farmers, but not for the most part of them, proving that pluriactivity is a reality in Parelhas/RN, even though it is not predominant among mining workers. The studied group is extremely fragile due to its working conditions, especially those that associate mining with agriculture. There is nothing forwarded or in force, regarding the laws or public policies that contemplate the individuals that possess this occupational duality. Farmers and miners are housed as special insured for family farmers to ease the wear and tear of these arduous activities when they reach old age.