On the morning of October 23, the Union of Food Industry Workers of Limeira, Sao Paulo, held a meeting at the gates of the Ajinomoto plant, with the participation of representatives of more than 20 unions of the region, the Federation of Food Industry Workers of Sao Paulo (FETIASP), and the IUF’s Latin American Regional Office.

The company, which employs 1,100 workers at the Limeira plant, is known for its difficult relations with the union, and for the past five years workers have been unable to advance any of its key demands. Lately, the company has gone one step further, setting up a humiliating security and control system to check workers as they go in and out of the plant.

When management realized that a meeting was taking place, several busloads of workers were forced to go into the plant through a side door, so as to prevent them from attending the meeting. Despite management’s efforts, the meeting was held with at least 70 percent of the workforce, who approved the demand to reduce work hours (implementing a 40-hour week without cutting wages), which will be submitted to the company to begin a negotiation.

Artur Bueno de Camargo, president of STIA Limeira and the National Confederation of Food Workers (CNTA), Neuza Barbosa, secretary of the CNTA Women’s Department, and other union leaders pledged their support to the Ajinomoto Workers’ Union, guaranteeing unyielding solidarity from the labor movement.

Despite the threatening presence of the Police, the workers closed the meeting to a great round of applause after two hours of discussion.