A transnational corporation that deals in deceit

AmBev shuts down plant and puts
166 workers out on the street

Two years ago, AmBev purchased the Cintra brewery plant in Mogi Mirim, a location of 100 thousand inhabitants some 160 kilometers from the city of Sao Paulo. It had promised full employment for at least five years, but a week ago it closed the plant down permanently, transferring its production to other plants located in Jacareí, Guarulhos and Jaguariúna. Osvaldo Perera and Giancarlo Megliorini, both leaders of the Union of Food Workers of Mogi Mirim, spoke with Sirel at the headquarters of the Federation of Food Industry Workers of Sao Paulo (FETIASP).

-How and when did AmBev come to Mogi Mirim?

-Two years ago AmBev purchased the Cintra plant. The new management immediately promised us the plant would be kept in full operation for at least five years. That’s how they put it: “at least” five years, but they suggested that it would be for much longer. In late 2008 we had a meeting with the company in which management assured us that it was planning to operate at full capacity throughout 2009.

-And what happened now?

-On February 26, less than two months later, they just came out of the blue and told us that the plant was being shut down, and then they put us all out on the street. Only 20 workers were left to finalize the closing of the plant, and almost all of them have already been given a dismissal date, which is in 30 days. AmBev was so arrogant in its actions that it didn’t even give us that information. We only have it because the office employees filtered it to us.

-What did the company give as the reason for closing the plant down?

-That our beer production costs were too high, and that the reason for such high costs was that the plant is too old.

-How has the Union reacted?

-It took us completely by surprise. In December we had that meeting in which we were assured, last week they opened the hour bank, and several of us were on leave. Our understanding was that when AmBev purchased the plant it had signed an agreement with the previous owners undertaking to keep the plant in operation for five more years. We’re looking for that agreement, which at the time of the purchase was announced by the local press, but we never saw the document.

-Do you think there’s any possibility that the plant will reopen?

-There are different opinions. It depends a little on our intuition, how each of us sees this. I personally don’t think so, although there are rumors that it will reopen in the summer of 2010. Unfortunately, AmBev has not informed us of anything at all.

-So it’s most likely that you will all be out of a job?

-We’re already out of a job. That’s what we have to deal with; that’s the situation we’re in. We’re unemployed!

-Is there any other source of employment in the city?

-The metal works industry is pretty strong in the region, but it’s unlikely that it will absorb us, especially in the current situation.

-How are you all taking this?

-It’s critical, because the company didn’t take the workers into account at all; we weren’t even notified of what was going to happen. It’s as if AmBev had been planning this right from the start. They had promised us that there’d be steady work all this year. Many of the workers took out loans based on that assurance, and now they’re unemployed.

-The Union wasn’t informed beforehand either?

-No, it wasn’t. We only found out after the fact. We all came into work that morning, like any regular day, and right there we were told that the plant would be shut down.

-How did everyone react?

-It was a shock; many just didn’t know what to do, and some stood crying at the factory gates. There were workers who were asking the union to please “appeal” the decision made by management, but that’s something we can’t do. It was a very cruel thing, what they did. AmBev had even encouraged some workers to return to school, to enroll in training courses, and it had promised them scholarships and aid. Several workers signed up for different courses, and now they won’t be able to pay for them. The families are going through a very hard time, because they’ve lost their financial stability. Almost all of us have loans and credits to pay. It’s really chaotic.

-How was the relationship between the Union and the company?

-We had a good relationship. Some of us thought that AmBev would ultimately shut down this unit, but nobody imagined it would do it so quickly and without warning.

-How would you describe AmBev’s attitude?

-As completely immature, because it’s only thinking about the business, and it cares nothing about the human side of it. I think that the same thing could happen to other AmBev workers, and I urge them to be alert, because this transnational corporation doesn’t think twice about closing down a plant, and it doesn’t take any responsibility for the situation it creates.

-And what about social responsibility?

-I guess that’s up to the city, to the community. Because AmBev is just a business and it has no social responsibility. 

Osvaldo only spoke once I turned off the tape recorder. After hearing what Giancarlo said he told us that he had worked for 26 years at the plant and had seen it change hands four times, and that he had already suffered a heart attack when Cintra sold the factory to AmBev. Since then he has been accompanying the Union in all its efforts, but he tries not to talk because he gets too worked up and is afraid he’ll have another heart attack. He remembered how for many years he didn’t understand what unionism was all about, he didn’t know his rights. But that some years back he joined the Union and then he understood how things worked. “Maybe that’s why I had a heart attack,” he joked.

Sometime this week the Union of Food Workers of Mogi Mirim will stage a major mobilization in the city to denounce AmBev’s irresponsible and cruel behavior.