About 15,000 members from the Curitiba Metalworkers Union (SMC) in Brazil demonstrated at Bosch, Correo, Renault, Volvo and WHB plants last week. They were launching a national campaign to defend their rights and call for more jobs and economic recovery.
Metalworkers from the car factories joined together in a mass march to “call on the Brazilian government to adopt measures to promote economic growth and employment without harming labor rights.”
“Unfortunately, some sectors say we need to make labor laws more flexible in order to resolve the crisis. This is wrong. The economy will only be saved by strengthening the internal market,” said Sergio Butka, SMC president and a member of CNTM-Força Sindical, an IndustriALL Global Union affiliate.
The SMC wants increase in income, easier access to credit and a reduction in interest rates in order to stimulate consumption and production. SMC says this will strengthen the economy and attract foreign investment.
On 8 September, leaders of metalworkers unions affiliated to the CNTM and to the CNM/CUT, also affiliated to IndustriALL, announced that they will hold a joint national strike on 29 September, announcing their opposition to the labor and social security reforms being proposed by employers and the government.
