Shame facts from Siemens worker in Brazil - Brasilianischer Kollege bittet um Solidarität

Kurzzusammenfassung von Lisa Carstensen: Der brasilianische Kollege Luiz Marcelo Rodriguez de Oliveira ist am 03. September von seinem Arbeitgeber Siemens Development Business Unit gekündigt worden. Als Kündigungsgrund vermutet er sein Engagement in der Gewerkschaft SENGE während der diesjährigen Verhandlungen über den „dissídio“, ein Lohnausgleich, der die hohe jährliche Inflation berücksichtigen soll. Die Verhandlungen zum „dissídio“ finden zwischen Vertretern der Arbeiterschaft und dem Arbeitgeberverband SINATRES statt. Auch dieses Jahr sollte die Arbeiterschaft durch die gelbe Gewerkschaft Seletroar vertreten werden. Rodriguez de Oliveira und seine Kollegen versuchten, den eigenen Gewerkschaften SENGE und SINTEC Gehör zu verschaffen, scheiterten aber an dem Widerstand der Firmenleitung, die unter Anderem den Arbeitern verboten hatten, an den Gewerkschaftstreffen teilzunehmen. Am Ende wurde der Vorschlag der Gewerkschaft SENGE zum Lohnausgleich abgelehnt, und Luiz Marcelo Rodriguez de Oliveira gekündigt.

Sat, 25 Sep 2004

Hello Colleagues,

I am a Mechanical Engineer who had work for Siemens Ltda. In Curitiba Southern Brazil for last ten years and I was fired last 3rd September. I worked for Enterprise Siemens Development Business Unit as a Support CAD System and UNIX Sun Network. During these ten years I had give my contribution for the maintenance of this plant here in Brazil, but an important and relevant fact I believe was responsible for my resignation. My participation in the Engineering Union SENGE-PR www.senge-pr.org.br during the last two years. So, here in Brazil we are having a little of inflation (the prices increasing during the years) and once a year representants of employers (UNION like Seletroar, Senge, Sintec) realized a meeting with the EletroEletronics Enterprises Union (SINAEES) www.sinaees.org.br to discuss a form to return to the workers the loses during the last year caused by inflation. It is called “dissídio”, and it is normally discuss in March. So last year in the march 2003 discussion, we had a inflation near to 17% to be returned to us in the way of salary, but here in Siemens Brazil we have a discrimination, separating engineering class, Technicians class, Consultant class and  Managers class. Managers (Directors) and Consultant have the discussion done in São Paulo city, a great center with a lot of Factories and a Business Center in Brazil, even these managers and consultants working and living in Curitiba city. The point that the gain there in São Paulo every time is better than in Curitiba and during last year I contest it to my Human Resources here in Curitiba (Mr. Jackson +55 41 341-5252). I ask for him why the people in São Paulo (and managers and consultants her in Curitiba, including my boss Mr. João Conrado de Mattos Kraft) have the top of R$ 5.200,00  (almost 1.700 Euros) to receive this inflation incoming back and the rest of employers her in Curitiba must be resigned with a short top of salary of R$ 2.100,00. It is meanings that if you ear R$ 3.000,00 a month you will receive just for R$ 2.100,00 and it in my opinion is a discrimination point. Mr. Jackson Curitiba RH Manager answers me that Curitiba Plant is a different place with different politics of salary, but the inflation is for everybody, for all the country. So, nothing happening and I promises to ask to the Engineer Union an answer in the next discussion period, but we all in Curitiba already lost a lot of salary power and Siemens save a lot of money doing it.

So, the discussion for a new “díssidio” started in last November and me and others engineer ask for the Seletroar, a Fake Union created by the Eletroeletronics during the 70th that must represent all the employers working in this kind of Factory. The Seletroar Boarding is fully of ex-Siemens, Electrolux and so on employers that are more interested and gain some things from these Company that actually represent the employers, unfortunately. I and others went to ask to Seletroar to represent us and ask to SINAEES (Factories Union) to avoid this kind of top limit (R$2.100,00) and try some things like had happened for the São Paulo Workers. The Seletroar Union is the Union that SINAEES Union considers in the discussion, it is obvious. SENGE, that represents Engineering and SINTEC that represents Technicians are avoited to participate in the salary and policies discussion, but had to assign the agreement after finished all the dilemmas. So, we went  to Seletroar, but as we expected it was not interested in represent us, because the base of their representants are the pour people working in that factory which R$ 2.100,00 of salary is a dream, so it was good for Seletroar and for SINAEES, and despites it the meeting where there were all kind of workers didn’t agree with the proposes done by SINAEES and Seletroar. The impasses had been created and the Seletroar must discuss more to convince the SINAEES to be more generous with the employers. The engineering presence in the others meeting will avoid, forbidden. We went to our class representative Union, Senge to ask help and it in the first time in the history decided  to help us and try to discuss with SINAEES.

The Factory was alerted by SINAEES about our presence in the meeting, including my presence and ask for all engineers to don´t go to the UNION meeting. Mr. Jackson ask it for other Manager (Mr. Milton Parolin General Manager of – ICN E ELM D Department, Mr. João Conrado de Mattos Kraft, ICN E ELM DS Manager, Alex Hostratner – ICN E ELM DB Manager, who father is a ex HR Manager and now after retired is working to SINAEES) to ask for all employers don´t go to the meeting and don´t give their vote against Siemens, because people in São Paulo were working to give the Inflation during this year without top limit. I answer to my boss that I went to represent my class there in the meeting, because I already had given my Word, my vote to these meeting happened. The Factory and SINAEES were working to turn down our effort to transform the engineering asks in some things important. Nobodies went there with fears of some retaliation, just 4 colleagues and 3 others from Nipondenso Automobile Factory. It was terrible because Mr. Jackson had done a great error asking it for the entire Manager don’t allow the engineer to go there to the meeting. The Managers are okay because they already earned their salary incoming from São Paulo dissídio, and abandon us to the lions of RH. Here in Brazil now, we don’t need some many people to decide some thing in the UNION, just the presence of two or three people is enough.

They don’t know about this and short number of people decided to don’t agree with the SINAEES agreement. The discussion starts a trajectory, a way to be resolve in the Justice, in a trial, in front of a Working Court. The RH (Mr. Jackson and Mr. Emilio his boss in São Paulo) noted, observed, the error in forbid engineers to go to the UNION Meeting and in a non intelligent act, ask to all the engineers to make a signature list and ask to SENGE to go back and its decision and sign the agreement with SINAEES, because without the Senge, or Sintec Signature there are not agreement and nobody receive the salary fixes, inflation incomings. SENGE after one moth mark a new date to a new meeting and now a lot of engineers went there to vote contra the SENGE propose and agree with the SINAEES Agreement, unfortunately. I voted against, and now after ten years working with many responsibilities and doing my job in the better way, I was fired. They ask me to give a vacation and waiting the return of a colleague Mr. José Ricardo de Paula from Siemens Portugal to do it. He can do a part of my job here. During these years I was a responsible worker and now I was the representing of Worker, voted by them, in the CIPA (Commission to Prevent Works Accidents) and had stability for two years at working. Siemens paid me 1 year and half of salary as a compensation fine. The problem is the way that the Siemens HR in Brazil are leading with their workers, paying just the enough for them living, enough to the Factory to compete in the Global Market (They closed a factory in Witten and transfer all the HIPATH PABX System to Curitiba). We don’t have democracy here, in my country yes, but at Siemens we don´t have the chance to complain to argue to ask the same opportunities. SINAEES, Siemens and HR are using the fear of their employers, who have family, children to take care, as an important tool to maintain their capacity, competitively in the Global Market, paying more and more lower salary. Now they are afraid of the Greece competitively, so for my colleagues that I left there in the Factory, the trend is the future to be not so good.

The responsible to Siemens Brazil is Mr. Primo and Mr. Byrro for the Telecom Unit, but I don’t know if they are conscious about the cancer that is attacking the core of their Enterprises.

I am now looking for a new job, I am BS. Mechanical Engineer, Mechanical Technicians and Pos Graduated by Compiègne France University, but I am sure that my participation in favor of my colleagues from Siemens was worthily. I just plant a seed, bust under their atmosphere will be hard to it grow up.

I am sending this email for you because, I know about the importance that Germany Union have and inform just what happen with a so Important Enterprises above the Equator line.

I was earning just R$ 3.390,00 per moth and I had received just one increasing of salary in ten years. My competence is known by colleagues like Frau Ranate Klinke and Herr Schwaicker at Siemens – Enterprises Division in Munich. This is the competitive policies from Siemens along the world.

Thank you to read this and I ask to you spread this information.

A big hug
Best Regards
Luiz Marcelo Rodrigues de Oliveira
Curitiba City, Brazil