Brasilia, May 9 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Threatened with being laid off, workers of Swedish Volvo car company started an indefinite strike on Friday in the Brazilian city of Curitiba.

The strike comes a day after Volvo laid-off 4,600 employees. “Some 1,200 employees from the first shift in the factory stopped work and the 1,200 of the second shift decided to follow until the company revises its decision and announces a program to preserve the jobs,” president of the Metallurgic Union of Curitiba, Sergio Butka, told EFE news agency.

According to Butka, the subsidiary of Volvo in Brazil revealed an internal communication on Thursday announcing that it will begin laying workers off starting on Monday. Strikers assure that they will only return to work when the company ends plans to lay off workers and meets the commitment that the company made earlier this week with the Public Ministry to adopt alternatives to preserve jobs.

“We are ready to negotiate and offer the company different alternatives that guarantee jobs. But Volvo attempts to, in opportunist fashion, to base the preservation of jobs on the flexibility of workers´ rights and salaries,” Butka said.