Since mid October the workers of the Japan-based transnational corporation Ajinomoto, in Limeira, have been demanding the improvement of certain social clauses in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which have been delayed since 2007. Faced with Ajinomoto’s refusal to sit down and negotiate with the workers, the Food Industry Workers’ Union (STIA) of Limeira summoned the company to the Regional Labor Office in an attempt to move forward in the negotiation. The meeting only served to confirm the intransigent attitude of this company, whose name literally means “the essence of flavor,” but which could easily be renamed “the bitter essence of flavor.”

Ajinomoto has been operating in Brazil since 1956, in the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors, as well as in the fields of animal nutrition and agribusiness. The company was originally established in the state of São Paulo, and currently has industrial plants in the municipalities of Limeira, Laranjal Paulista, Valparaíso and Pederneiras. It has always maintained a fierce antiunion attitude and an uncompromising stance in response to the demands of its workers.

Sirel spoke with Artur Bueno de Camargo, president of STIA and the National Confederation of Food and Related Industry Workers (CNTA), to learn more about the outcome of the meeting and the measures that the workers will take.

-Where does the conflict in Ajinomoto currently stand?

-After the company sent the Union an official communication last Friday, Nov. 6, where it declared that our demands are merely a political strategy of the union and do not reflect the feelings of the workers, STIA presented a letter to the Regional Labor Office denouncing the company’s antiunion actions and requesting permission to hold an internal referendum with the participation of all employees of Ajinomoto in order to shed light on the situation and get the transnational corporation to negotiate in good faith with the union. The meeting with the labor authorities was held this morning, without positive results. Ajinomoto insists on maintaining its intransigent attitude and refuses to negotiate with us. The company also rejected the idea of a referendum, so we’re back to point zero.

-What measures will be taken now?

-We’re convening the Union’s steering committee and consulting with the Legal Department to evaluate the situation and consider what we should do next. In view that there has been no progress, we will continue mobilizing.

-In addition to this, a communication has been sent to the Ajinomoto parent company in Japan, with support from the IUF …

-Yes. We’ve already sent a letter, with the IUF Regional Secretary Gerardo Iglesias, addressed to the executive managers of the Japanese company, to inform them of the situation that we have here in their Brazilian subsidiary, that is, the company’s refusal to sit down and really negotiate. We hope that the company in Japan will pressure their subsidiary to find a solution in the short term.