On February 20, almost 5,200 workers at the General Motors Co. factory, in Campos near Sāo Paulo, paralyzed production by downing tools in protest at GM’s proposal to layoff 800 workers. The layoffs are another in a series of hard knocks felt over several months by an industry facing falling demand from both Brazil and Argentina.
Management believes the layoffs to be inevitable for the company to adjust to the market’s fluctuations. A voluntary departure program was also put in place to encourage workers to leave of their own accord. The metalworkers union has asked the Federal Minister for Labor, Manoel Dias to intervene in the situation, take over negotiations, and put in place provisional employment guarantees for employees of state subsidized companies, (one of which is GM). Management at the GM factory has official
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