GM to invest US$ 500 million in São José
Valor Econômico - 06/20/2008
General Motors announced yesterday an investment of US$ 500 million to produce a mid-sized vehicle in the unit of São José dos Campos (SP). This is the third maker able to negotiate more flexible labor rules with the steel workers union that traditionally has resisted giving up on old achievements. Ford and Volkswagen did the same in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The new GM vehicle, which will be produced in São José dos Campos and in Thailand, will be launched in the Brazilian market in the second half of 2010. The funds announced yesterday were approved by the international headquarters of the Company, in May, in the United States. More investments may come in the future in line with the GM strategy of setting off, in the markets where it is capable of growing and profiting, the losses it has in North America. In July, 2007, the maker announced an investment of US$ 300 million in Brazil and another of US$ 200 million in Argentina. The company also decided, yesterday, to reactivate the second shift of the Corsa line, which was deactivated three years ago in the unit of São José dos Campos. In order to do so, the company will hire 600 employees under the temporary work system. Currently, there are 9 thousand employees working in that unit. In exchange of the investment, GM negotiated more flexible working hours with the local union (with the possibility of adding one hour overtime a day) and minimum wage for the new employees below the previous wage. The purpose is to reduce costs in order to gain competitiveness in the struggle for new projects with the other units of the multinational company located in other countries.