Brazil auto workers, GM fail to agree on job cuts

Brazilian auto workers on Friday failed to talk General Motors out of cutting 1,598 jobs as the two sides agreed to meet again next week, the union said. The talks began earlier in the day after a two-hour morning stoppage by around 4,000 employees at the GM facility in the industrial city of Sao Jose dos Campos, 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Sao Paulo. A union statement accused GM of continued intransigence at the meeting, which was attended by representatives of the labor and development ministry. But a GM spokesman said there had been "some movement" during the four hours of bargaining. He quoted Luiz Moan, GM's head of institutional relations, as saying the company was seeking "greater competitiveness" and believed a deal could be reached if the union "presents concrete measures" showing more flexibility. The two sides said a further round of talks might be held on January 26. The union said the next meeting would coincide with a day of global action against GM in six countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Germany and the United States. The workers also called for a meeting with President Dilma Rousseff to urge her to stop the planned layoffs at a struggling production line at the GM complex, which has eight plants and employs 7,500 workers. "We want President Dilma (Rousseff) to meet with GM workers next week. The president must bar GM, which receives public money, from carrying out mass layoffs," union president Antonio Ferreira de Barros said in a statement. "GM is doing well and does not need to cut jobs. We are going to continue fighting with all our might to save the workers' jobs," he added. Last August, GM and the union reached a deal to delay the layoffs until January 26. The union has estimated that the layoffs would translate into a total loss of around 15,000 jobs in Sao Jose dos Campos.