31 March, 2015The ABC Metalworkers’ Union has signed agreements with motor manufacturers Toyota and Ford guaranteeing workers’ jobs at two major plants in São Paolo state, Brazil.
The union, affiliated to IndustriALL Global Union through CNM-CUT, signed a deal with Ford on 27 March securing workers’ employment at the firm’s factory in São Bernardo do Campo until 2017.
In addition to job security, the agreement provides wage increases for two years and profit sharing bonuses based on results for three years.
A few days earlier, on 23 March, a similar agreement on protection of employment and sustainable growth was signed by ABC and approved unanimously by the workers at the Toyota’s plant, also in São Bernardo.
The Japanese automaker has announced plans to invest 19 million dollars in modernizing the São Bernardo factory, which opened in 1960 as the first Toyota industrial unit outside Japan.
The company, which currently employs 1,700 workers, produces Toyota exports to the United States for the Corolla and Camry models.
ABC says the company is expected to add some 10 per cent of the production to every unit through the creation of a third shift, and a 14 per cent increase in production to supply parts for the future Toyota plant in Porto Feliz (São Paolo).
With the deal, “Toyota wants to enforce one of its main values as the continuous contribution to the development of economy and society in the countries where the company operates," said Steve St. Angelo president of Toyota of Brazil.
"This agreement comes at a great time for the country in which the automotive industry faces difficulties and many automakers are adopting mechanisms to avoid layoffs," said the president of the Union of the ABC Metalworkers, Rafael Marques.
IndustriALL’s Assistant General Secretary Fernando Lopes said, “We congratulate the ABC Metalworkers’ Union for these big achievements securing jobs for their members in São Bernardo. These agreements are in line with the job protection programme, currently negotiated between our affiliates CNM-CUT, ABC and the government of Brazil, and hopefully when adopted will facilitate the spread of this good practice across all industrial sectors in Brazil.”