The chief executive of European car maker Volkswagen (VW) said last night he would sack any workers in Brazil who went on strike after they rejected proposals to cut nearly 4,000 jobs.
"Anyone who goes on strike will be dismissed," Mr Bernd Pischetsrieder told reporters at an event in VW's hometown of Wolfsburg in northern Germany.
Workers at VW's Brazilian unit last week spurned plans to reduce its workforce by nearly 4,000 through voluntary layoffs or retraining. Employees at two plants agreed to enter a state of alert that could lead to a strike.
VW is aiming to break even next year in Brazil, where it has said the car market is the worst the sector has seen for a decade. It has said it will swallow all the restructuring costs for the business in this year's accounts.