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21 August, 2001DaimlerChrysler workers at the Sao Bernardo plant will refuse a transfer of production or anything else harmful to the struggle in South Africa.
BRAZIL/SOUTH AFRICA: International solidarity with the striking autoworkers in South Africa has come from DaimlerChrsyler workers in Brazil. Speaking on behalf of the Works Council of the Sao Bernardo plant of DaimlerChrysler and the Metalworkers' Union of the ABC - CNM/CUT, union official Valter Sanches has declared their support with the struggle of the South African autoworkers, which is now in its third week.
"It's absolutely clear," he writes, "that the transnational companies are just interested in maximising their profits despite the working conditions and quality of life of their employees. In Brazil, they behave the same way, paying much lower wages than in their countries of origin."
When the Brazilian DaimlerChrysler workers learned that the company was putting pressure on the striking South African autoworkers by threatening to move its production elsewhere, they joined with the General Works Council of DaimlerChrysler Germany in making clear they would not accept an eventual transfer of production or anything else which could harm the struggle of the striking autoworkers in South Africa. The Sao Bernardo plant manufactures, as does DaimlerChrysler in South Africa, the Mercedes C-class car.
Sanches states that the Brazilian DaimlerChrysler workers are on standby for any needed solidarity action and that their position on this matter is being passed on to the company. "We don't accept being played against each other," he declared.
"It's absolutely clear," he writes, "that the transnational companies are just interested in maximising their profits despite the working conditions and quality of life of their employees. In Brazil, they behave the same way, paying much lower wages than in their countries of origin."
When the Brazilian DaimlerChrysler workers learned that the company was putting pressure on the striking South African autoworkers by threatening to move its production elsewhere, they joined with the General Works Council of DaimlerChrysler Germany in making clear they would not accept an eventual transfer of production or anything else which could harm the struggle of the striking autoworkers in South Africa. The Sao Bernardo plant manufactures, as does DaimlerChrysler in South Africa, the Mercedes C-class car.
Sanches states that the Brazilian DaimlerChrysler workers are on standby for any needed solidarity action and that their position on this matter is being passed on to the company. "We don't accept being played against each other," he declared.