Taking on GM in Brazil

[dcsmart]

After General Motors laid off more than 800 workers at a key assembly plant in the industrial city of São José dos Campos, the workers' union responded with an immediate work stoppage--and is now mobilizing to defend those jobs.

In an article for ValeParaibano, the city's daily newspaper, Vivaldo Moreira Araújo, regional director of the Metalworkers Union and a leader in the militant Conlutas labor federation, puts GM's attacks in the context of the world economic crisis. This article was translated and slightly updated by Tom Lewis.


THE ANNOUNCEMENT of 802 layoffs at the General Motors plant here in São José dos Campos struck a hard blow against workers and the city itself. Capitalism's logic of incessant searching for profit speaks ever louder in this case, as the world economic crisis serves the bosses as an ideal pretext for their actions.

As we said to the metalworkers last year, the economic crisis cannot be underestimated or considered only a U.S. and European problem--an idea put forward by President Luis Ignacio "Lula" da Silva in one of his first speeches on the crisis. It took only a few months before Lula himself reconsidered his statement and admitted that the economic turbulence had also reached Brazil.

Despite the arrival of the crisis, it's important to understand that GM did not need to lay off any workers. On the contrary, the company made substantial profits in the last few years, principally in 2008, so much so that it sent its profits northward to help pay the debts of its U.S. parent company. GM Brazil's assembly operations broke various records in 2008, including in sales, with the production of 3.2 million cars, an increase of 8 per cent over 2007.

Another point to consider is that at the beginning of the crisis, the federal government, along with the state government, conceded billions of dollars of tax breaks to plant owners. This reduction of taxes amounted to a virtual basket of goodies for the oh-so "reasonable" businessmen.

For all of these reasons, the layoffs at GM Brazil should not have happened. And once completed, they represent a great betrayal of the city, principally of those sectors that had allied themselves with the company to try to impose an "hours bank" and salary cuts under the pretext of creating 600 temporary jobs in the assembly plant.
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FULL ARTICLE
http://socialistworker.org/2009/01/26/taking-on-gm-in-brazil

[Peace Patriot]

1. Boy, GM-Brazil makes big profits, lays off 802 workers. So disgusting.

The key paragraphs...

"...it's important to understand that GM did not need to lay off any workers. On the contrary, the company made substantial profits in the last few years, principally in 2008, so much so that it sent its profits northward to help pay the debts of its U.S. parent company. GM Brazil's assembly operations broke various records in 2008, including in sales, with the production of 3.2 million cars, an increase of 8 per cent over 2007.

Another point to consider is that at the beginning of the crisis, the federal government, along with the state government, conceded billions of dollars of tax breaks to plant owners. This reduction of taxes amounted to a virtual basket of goodies for the oh-so "reasonable" businessmen."

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Workers of the world, unite!