Assembly supports actions by Union

Strike is inevitable!

A massively-attended assembly, held this morning outside the Ajinomoto plant in Limeira, approved the strike, in view of the systematic refusal of the Japanese transnational corporation to negotiate with the Union of Food and Related Industry Workers of Limeira.

Union headquarters were the meeting point for the members of the Assembly table and the representatives of sister organizations from Araraquara, Sorocaba, Piracicaba, Capivarí, Itapira and Porto Feliz that arrived very early to give their support and backing to the Ajinomoto workers.

The city of Limeira awoke to a persistent drizzle that seemed to presage the worst.

“Will the rain drive the workers away and ruin the assembly?” several wondered.

By the time the last bus arrived, the rain was coming down relentlessly. Some found protection under the plant’s narrow awning, others huddled in groups sheltered by the leafy trees.

Ignoring the rain, hundreds of workers gathered in front of the plant and listened in silence as the Union leaders and the IUF representatives spoke.

Artur Bueno Camargo, president of the National Confederation of Food and Related Industry Workers (CNTA), described the assembly as “positive, because despite the rain, the workers did not go inside the plant. They approved the decision to begin the strike at 7:30, because the intransigency of this transnational corporation has left us with no other way out.”

“We waited for Ajinomoto to realize that it needed to sit down with us and dialogue in good faith, that it needed to heed  the workers’ just demands.”

“We’ve been seeking a negotiation for two years,” Artur continued, “and the company has systematically refused us, claiming that it was a political issue of our union, that our demands were not legitimate demands of the workers.”

“Today, the assembly proved that the workers are willing to go on strike and that they support our proposals fully,” the CNTA president underlined.

The food industry giant Ajinomoto refuses, among other things, to grant its workers a basic food basket, which is a benefit that is very common among food companies and even among other companies that don’t manufacture food products.

Artur adds that, “the Union also demands a subsidy for the purchase of medicines, both for workers and their families. As with the basic food basket, this is a very common subsidy in Brazil, with workers paying part of the cost of the medicine and employers covering the rest.”

“Another demand is the payment of the hours it takes workers to travel to the plant, because for some workers it takes more than two and a half hours to travel to and from the plant. In this sense the law is clear: when a company is located in a remote site, it must pay its workers the time it takes them to get to work. For example, many sugar mills pay an average of one extra hour to cover this.”

“As you can see,” Artur says, “we’re not asking to co-manage the factory or making outrageous demands; we’re only asking that these and other benefits that smaller companies, with ambitions nowhere near those of Ajinomoto, negotiate and grant without much of a fuss.”

If the company continues to refuse to initiate negotiations, we won’t hesitate to take other measures, at the national and international level. We don’t rule out the strike, although we’d rather solve this situation through quicker means,” Artur concluded.

It’s almost 10 and at union headquarters the assembly has been considered a success. The rain continues to fall on Limeira: forceful, steady, and unrelenting, like the Union.