30 August, 2011On Monday, August 29 autoworkers in Sao Jose de Pinhais, Brazil voted in favour of the new agreement negotiated by the Greater Curitiba Metalworkers Union, member of the IMF affiliate Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores Metalúrgicos/Força Sindical.
BRAZIL: In accordance with the new agreement valid from 2011 to 2013 autoworkers at Renault will get up to a 20,19 per cent real wage hike in addition to the inflation indexation, plus R$61.500 as part of their profit sharing bonus.
The agreement is considered the biggest pay deal in the entire history of wage negotiations in Brazil. It sets a benchmark for a new form of negotiations next year.
Sérgio Butka, president of Força Sindical in the state of Paraná, commented: "When there is common sense, you can make good deals that benefit both the worker who sees his work valued and the company which increases its competitiveness in the labour market".
"This agreement is a response to those who criticize the workers' struggle for better pay, saying it will scare away companies from our state. Thanks to this agreement, profit sharing and bonuses alone will contribute to inject R$343 million in the economy of Paraná. This will keep the wheel of the economy turning, increase production and encourage job creation. The metalworkers of Paraná are showing the way, and the country should follow to counter the effects of the global crisis," said Butka.
The Paraná Renault factory employs directly 5,700 workers and has the capacity to produce 224,000 cars per year. Currently the models produced at the factory are New Renault Sandero, Renault Sandero New Stepway, Logan and Grand Tour. The factory also produces ten million spare part units per year for Brazilian and Argentinean markets. 41 percent of the production is exported, with deliveries to Renault factories in Argentina (22 per cent), Colombia (13 per cent), Romania and Mexico (4 per cent). This year the automaker celebrated the milestone of 1 million cars produced since its inauguration in 1998. The company ranks fifth in the national ranking of automakers.