Volkswagen Brazil workers to strike over layoffs

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2006

SAO PAULO (AFP) — Volkswagen workers will hold a series of strikes starting May 22 at the German automaker's five plants in Brazil to protest layoffs, the major union federations announced.

"Protests on each day of the strike will call the public's attention to the impact of Volkswagen's action," said a bulletin released by the CUT and Labor Force union federations.

Europe's biggest car maker, which employs 22,000 workers at the five plants, announced a restructuring plan for its Brazilian branch earlier this month, saying that thousands of jobs would have to be cut.

Unions said the company told them 5,773 jobs in Brazil by 2008, including 3,016 this year.

The company cited rising labor costs and a rising value of the real, Brazil's currency, as...