GM metalworkers on strike over job cuts
Metalworkers at a General Motors (GM) manufacturing unit in São José dos Campos, São Paulo, went on strike Monday (Aug. 10) to put pressure on the car maker to open negotiations and reconsider the job cuts announced Saturday (8).
According to the trade union, an assembly meeting brought together over 4,000 of the 5,200 staff working at the plant that makes vans, engines, and Complete Knock-Down kits (CKD, car part sets for assembly) for export. The exact number of dismissals has not yet been disclosed by GM, but no fewer than 250 metalworkers are reported to have been notified of termination by telegrams.
“We were all surprised by GM's one-sided move, and we want to overturn this decision, because the company still has a good deal of extra fat to burn off [before it has to consider firing staff]” Renato de Almeida, Secretary General of the Metalworkers' Union of São José dos Campos, explained. He is planning to request a meeting with the company's board to discuss a solution to the job crisis.
According to Almeida, job cuts at car makers in Brazil have amounted to over 8,000 so far. “We won't let them punish workers and lay the burden of this political and economic crisis on our backs,” he argued.
Besides pickets to persuade fellow metalworkers at other work shifts to down tools, the strikers may also hold march protests. Agência Brasil tried to contact GM Brazil to hear their comments on the action, but had no answer as of the publication of this story.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: GM metalworkers on strike over job cuts
