SAO PAULO (Reuters) – A Brazilian union voted on Thursday to strike at a General Motors Co factory to protest a decision to stop making Zafira minivans, which workers say threatens about 1,500 jobs.
The Metalworkers Union of S GBPo Jose dos Campos also stopped production for two hours at the factory in the city of Sao Jose dos Campos earlier in the day, ahead of a meeting with GM executives and labor ministry officials.
“The meeting accomplished nothing. The company won’t make any assurances. They are cutting production here and want to shut down the whole assembly line,” Antonio Ferreira de Barros, the head of the union, said in a phone interview.
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Barros said the union agreed to another meeting with GM and the labor minister, but had already submitted notice on Thursday of its intent to strike within 48 hours.
Labor issues at the factory have hit a sensitive vein for the car maker after the Brazilian government slashed industrial taxes to boost the auto industry on the condition that it maintain the size of its workforce.
GM officials were not immediately available for comment, but a senior vice president told Reuters last week that the companies’ overall payroll in Brazil is growing as it offsets cuts at some factories with hiring at others.
The executive added that jobs in Sao Jose dos Campos would depend on demand for models made there, including older parts of the Chevrolet lineup such as the Zafira and Meriva minivans.
About 350 workers on the factory’s passenger vehicle line have accepted a voluntary buyout program offered by the company last month. Output of the Zafira, which was launched in Brazil over a decade ago, represented less than 10 percent of the production on that line, which employs some 1,500 workers.
About 7,500 people work at that GM factory, which also has assembly lines producing motors and S-10 pickup trucks.
(Additional reporting by Alberto Alerigi Jr. in S GBPo Paulo; Editing by Richard Chang)