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.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
