|
Last
Friday, September 9, the workers of the transnational meatpacking company
JBS-Friboi cut off the national highway that connects the state of São Paulo
with the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in protest of the closure of a plant in the
São Paulo locality of Presidente Epitácio.
The roadblock at that
particular point was symbolic as there is a “fiscal war” being waged in the
state of Mato Grosso do Sul that benefits investment companies with significant
tax exemptions and is an incentive for companies to relocate there.
Sirel spoke
with Carlúcio Gomes da Rocha and Melquíades de Araújo,
respectively presidents of the Union of Food Industry Workers of Presidente
Prudente and the Federation of Food Industry Workers of São Paulo.
According to
Carlúcio, the September 9 mobilization was a success: “We cut off the
highway, which was quite busy that day with people returning home after the
September 7 national holiday. The goal of our march was to let the company and
the authorities know that we’re not taking this lying down, and that,
together with the Federation and our trade union, we’re going to do
everything within our power to get JBS-Friboi to go back on its decision to
close down the Presidente Epitácio plant.”
For his part, Araújo,
who has been accompanying the workers throughout this process and was one of the
speakers at the rally, said, “We’ve scheduled a meeting with the National Bank
for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) to request that it do
something about this situation, considering that it owns almost a third of
JBS’ stock.”
“The closure of the
Presidente Epitácio meatpacking plant will be devastating for the local
community, as it is practically the only source of employment. Closing this
plant is like closing down the entire city,”
the FETIASP president said.
For Carlúcio Gomes,
“At the meeting with BNDES the participation of the Federation, the
National Confederation of Food and Agroindustry Workers (CNTA) and a
large group of federal congresspersons that are accompany us will be key.”
“We’ll meet in Rio de
Janeiro on Tuesday, September 13, always with the aim of reverting this
situation, hoping that the government will act in accordance to the social
policies promoted by the BNDES.”
 |
