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In
late August, the world’s leading beef processing company closed several plants
in Brazil without warning. One of the plants was the unit in Presidente Epitácio,
a locality in the state of São Paulo, where the main economic activity is
meatpacking. Sirel spoke with Carlucio Gomes da Rocha, president of the Union of
Food Industry Workers of Presidente Prudente, which represents the plant’s
workers.
-How
many workers are affected by the closure of the Presidente Epitácio meatpacking
plant?
-About 1,300 workers were fired. Workers also lost their jobs in the Curitiba
(state of Paraná) and Maringá (Minas Gerais) plants.
-What reasons did the company give for these sudden closures?
-The
company gave no valid reason for this measure, but it’s common knowledge that
JBS-Friboi
is planning to relocate these plants to other states of Brazil and even to other
parts of states where it still has meatpacking plants.
The
most attractive place for the company right now is Mato Grosso do Sul, where a
fiscal war favors companies with significant tax exemptions.
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JBS closed its plant
overnight, without prior warning and without notifying its workers.
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Unfortunately in Brazil, companies are not required by law to give
workers advance notice when they are laying them off, or even to limit
relocations to other states.
The
plant closed overnight, without prior warning and without the workers being
notified.
-This business group received significant funding from the National Bank for
Economic and Social Development (BNDES)….
-Exactly and that’s not right. While
JBS-Friboi
uses funds from a bank whose mission is to promote economic and social
development, it closes plants or relocates its production to other states and
it’s not penalized for it. And that’s inadmissible.
This
is one of the main issues that we’ll be discussing at a meeting we’re holding
today, September 6, at the state’s lower house of congress, with the
participation of members of BNDES, the Federation of Food Industry
Workers of São Paulo (FETIA-SP), the mayor of Presidente Epitácio, and
our union.
The
goal is to try to reverse the closure of this plant as the social impact will be
devastating. The meatpacking plant represents two-thirds of the city’s economy.
We respect workers,
consumers and the planet…
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