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12 November, 2001Management has refused to reverse its decision to lay off 11 per cent of its Brazilian workforce.
BRAZIL: Following the failure to get Volkswagen Brazil management to reverse its decision to lay off 3,000 workers at the company's plant in Sao Bernardo do Campo, near Sao Paulo, 16,000 workers have voted unanimously to take indefinite strike action. The workers, who are organised by the ABC Metalworkers' Union, a member of the IMF-affiliated National Confederation of Metalworkers (CNM/CUT), also wants their union to negotiate directly with VW management at its headquarters in Germany.
The company announced on November 8 that, due to high interest rates and Brazil's slowing economy, it would cut close to 20 per cent of the workforce at its Anchieta plant in Sao Bernardo as of November 12, unless the workforce accepted a 15 per cent cut in wages and working hours.
Speaking for the ABC Metalworkers' Union, its president, Luiz Marinho, has said that "the workers are not responsible for the fall in the market of Volkswagen... If the company loses market share, it is because it does not launch new products."
VW has a 28,000 workforce in Brazil, of which 16,000 are employed at the Anchieta plant.
Another 1,000 workers may be laid off at VW's plant in Taubate, where negotiations are ongoing.
The company announced on November 8 that, due to high interest rates and Brazil's slowing economy, it would cut close to 20 per cent of the workforce at its Anchieta plant in Sao Bernardo as of November 12, unless the workforce accepted a 15 per cent cut in wages and working hours.
Speaking for the ABC Metalworkers' Union, its president, Luiz Marinho, has said that "the workers are not responsible for the fall in the market of Volkswagen... If the company loses market share, it is because it does not launch new products."
VW has a 28,000 workforce in Brazil, of which 16,000 are employed at the Anchieta plant.
Another 1,000 workers may be laid off at VW's plant in Taubate, where negotiations are ongoing.