Shoes stitched, workers unstitched: a study on working and health conditions among women factory workers in the footwear industry in Franca, Sao Paulo State, Brazil

This study aimed to analyze associations between working conditions and health problems reported by women workers assigned to mechanical stitching in the footwear industry in Franca, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. The qualitative study's theory and methodology were based on historical and dialectical materialism and combined sociological and ethnographic research techniques. Data were collected with taped interviews, focusing on the workers' life and work stories, systematic observation of the work process, consultation of historical documents, and imagistic production. Analysis of the data revealed the effects of work in mechanical stitching on the health of women workers employed in the factory and at home, who experience precarious labor conditions involving workday intensification and extension, preset production targets, job insecurity, and unhealthy workplaces.