By
The Associated Press
SAO PAULO, Brazil - The assembly lines at some of Brazil's biggest automobile plants ground to a halt yesterday during a 24-hour strike by thousands of workers demanding higher wages.
The Metalworkers Union representing workers at Ford, Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, Toyota and Scania, as well as workers in several auto parts factories, said at least 60,000 workers had walked of their jobs in Sao Bernardo do Campo, an industrial suburb on the outskirts of Sao Paulo.
"We are demanding a 20 percent wage hike, but will settle for 10 percent," said Gonzaga de Monte, one of the union's spokesmen. "If we don't get the 10 percent by the end of the week, we will strike for an undetermined period of time as of next Monday."
The National Vehicle Manufacturer Association has offered a 6.5 percent wage increase and according to its spokesman Pablo Teruel "there are no plans at the moment to increase that figure."
The strike also stopped production at two of General Motors's three Brazilian plants, where 14,000 assembly line workers walked off their jobs in the industrial suburb of Sao Caetano and in Sao Jose dos Campos, 62 miles northeast of Sao Paulo.
The automaker's press office said GM's plant in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul was operating normally. It refused to give further details.
Volkswagen said that most of its 17,100 workers in Sao Bernardo do Campo joined the strike, halting the production of 890 vehicles. The strike also stopped the production of 1,400 engines at the company's engine factory in Sao Carlos, 124 miles northwest of Sao Paulo.
Ford said most of its 4,500 workers were on strike and that production was completely halted.
