The work discusses implications of the phenomenon of teacher Union affiliation upon the identities of this category, especially when considering the alleged process of its proletarianization, and the inclusion of other school personnel in the teachers Unions. The arguments are based on two studies carried out with Union officials from CPERS/SINDICATO (Teachers Center of the State of Rio Grande do Sul - Union of Workers in Education), representing different degrees of participation in the political hierarchy of the organization. The theoretical framework used recovers the genesis of school and teaching, approaching two of its most significant images: women's work and proletarian work. The article speaks of the affiliation of teachers to Unions in Brazil, a phenomenon that becomes official after the promulgation of the 1988 Constitution, but that had consolidated before that: during the struggles for democracy under the dictatorship. The analysis reveals a variety of positions among Union officials with regard to the teachers' identities as workers in Education or as professionals, even though a universal feature is the absence of mentions to the modifications in the process of teacher work to justify the proletarianization. There is also agreement with respect to the instrumental aspect of the affiliations, that is, to the fact that most people become affiliated to obtain personal advantages. The conclusions point out to the hybrid character of the current teachers' identities. They also present for analysis the fact that, although the phrase "workers in Education" might indicate a dilution of teachers among the other categories of workers of the school, the opposite is noticeable: the teacher category subsumes the other school personnel.
Teacher work; Teacher Union movement; Teacher identity; Workers in Education
