GM suspends payment of funds and FGTS to those laid off – 10/27/2023 – Market

GM (General Motors) suspended until Wednesday (1st) the payment of severance pay and the FGTS (Service Time Guarantee Fund) fine for employees dismissed without just cause last Saturday (21).

The decision was taken during the first meeting between the company, unions and representatives of the Ministry of Labor that took place this Friday (27) at the department’s headquarters in the capital of São Paulo. The meeting dealt with the approximately 1,100 layoffs of workers at three factories in São Paulo.

According to the minutes of the meeting signed by the parties, to which the Sheet had access, around 1,200 employees were laid off.

GM dismissed employees from the São José dos Campos, Mogi das Cruzes and São Caetano do Sul units on Saturday (21) via telegram and email. On Sunday (22), metalworkers met and decided to go on strike, demanding the cancellation of the layoffs.

The decision to suspend payments represents a “gain of time”, according to labor ministry representatives, for negotiations between GM and unions to continue. The company has not formalized its proposal and the expectation is that a conciliatory proposal will be presented on Tuesday (31), in a new meeting at the ministry’s headquarters.

“Payment of severance pay and FGTS deposits would be made today [na sexta]. We have a deadline until Tuesday to negotiate and reverse [as demissões] easier”, said Marcos Alves de Mello, superintendent of the Ministry of Labor and Employment in São Paulo. “Once you have already paid all the funds, it becomes more difficult. It seems small, but it was a big victory.”

In addition to the negotiation that should take place over the weekend, other meetings are planned at the Labor Court.

The automaker and the São José dos Campos union are holding a hearing meeting this Friday, at the TRT-15 (Regional Labor Court of the 15th Region), in Campinas, to discuss the collective dispute. A caravan that took 85 metalworkers was organized by the union. Next Monday, there will be a meeting at the TRT headquarters of the 2nd Region, in São Paulo.

This Friday’s meeting was urgently requested by the Minister of Labor and Employment, Luiz Marinho. A Sheet the portfolio holder called the automaker’s decision to cut workers, by letter, without negotiating, “unfortunate.”

“We are not at a moment in which companies make a unilateral decision. We have to talk, we have to build, we have to see if there is a possibility”, said the minister, after the 5th edition of Sindimais, an event that brings together unions that took place on Thursday ( 26).

The automaker does not confirm the number of people laid off. According to union estimates, there were 800 cuts in São José dos Campos, 200 in São Caetano do Sul and one hundred in Mogi. According to GM, the measure was adopted due to the drop in sales and exports.

The São José dos Campos factory has around 4,000 workers and produces the S10 and Trailblazer models, at an average of 150 cars per day.

The three GM units are completely shut down, for an indefinite period, due to the strike that began on Monday (23). In total, the strike brings together around 10 thousand professionals, who demand the cancellation of the layoffs by the automaker.

According to GM, its factories in Gravataí (RS), Joinville (SC) and Sorocaba (SP) operate normally.