Parliamentary front visited the headquarters of Embraer and heard explanations on the dismissal of company’s workers

The coordinator of the Parliamentary Front on the Defense of Brazilian Aeronautic Industry, Deputy Marcelo Ortiz (PV-SP), said that that group will ask the government to create tax incentives for the production of airplane parts in Brazil. That industry is having trouble competing with foreign companies, which are entitled to total tax exemption for imported components by Embraer.

"If Brazilian suppliers had the same conditions as the foreign ones, that industry could grow and generate many employments in Brazil. It is unacceptable to maintain privileges which harm domestic industry”, affirmed Ortiz.

On Wednesday (29), fourteen deputies visited the headquarters of Embraer, in São José dos Campos (SP), to discuss with the heads of that company the dismissal of around 4,200 employees, as they had announced in February. The delegation was received by the president of the company, Frederico Curado. According to him, around 800 dismissed employees had already been admitted in companies supplying aviation components, thanks to Embraer’s support.

According to Ortiz, the heads of that company consider it is still early to speak about readmissions. However, according to him, they think that the economic crisis, which stroke the company, will not last. “As soon as the situation is under control, they want to bring employees back, especially those who could not get a new job”, affirmed the deputy.

Profit
On Friday (30), Embraer announced a profit of R$38,300,000 during the first quarter of this year, an amount which is 74.8% smaller than the equivalent period in 2008. The result, though, is much better than the one verified in the last three months of 2008, when the company reported losses amounting to R$40,600,000.

The congresspeople, who spent the day at Embraer’s plant, heard explanations on the inflexibility of the market and on the necessary organization to produce planes. The airplanes are always custom made and therefore there is no stock, nor the possibility to maintain the same production pace in a context with so many orders’ cancellations.

"The company hired many employees because they were expecting the closing of pre-contracts, which have been cancelled because of the crisis. Therefore, Embraer had exceeding employees and had no choice, but dismissing them”, said Marcelo Ortiz. According to him, the dismissal happened “the least possibly aggressive way”. “The employees received three additional salaries and kept their health insurance for six months after the end of their labor contract”, he affirmed.

Report - Edvaldo Fernandes
Editing - João Pitella Junior
Translation - Positive Idiomas Ltda