Court approves collective agreement that establishes the rehiring of workers and the end of the action that has been underway since the closure of the unit in Paraná, in 2020
O TST (Superior Labor Court) approved this Wednesday (June 12, 2024) an agreement that allows the reactivation of the fertilizer factory Nitrogenated Araucariasubsidiary of Petrobras in Paraná. The state-owned company’s board approved the resumption of the unit on June 6, but it depended on the resolution of the action in the Labor Court.
The unit located in Paraná has not been producing since 2020 and was part of the company’s sale plans under the former president’s government Jair Bolsonaro (PL), but without success. With the closure of the factory, around 1,000 employees were laid off, 400 direct and 600 indirect. O MPT (Public Ministry of Labor) also asked in 2020 for Petrobras to be condemned for moral damages.
With the decision to reopen the factory, Petrobras sent the proposal to rehire the dismissed workers to the TST as a way of ending the action. The hearing this Wednesday (June 12), led by Minister Alexandre Ramos, formalized the agreement.
The term establishes the withdrawal of the request for conviction for collective moral damage and the rehiring of specialized workers who were working at that time, but only for specific positions. The objective is to guarantee the safety of operations, given the high level of danger that the factory presents.
The agreement also establishes that the relocation and entry of these workers into Araucária Nitrogenados will not have retroactive effects on employment contracts terminated upon hibernation.
With the formalization of the agreement, the Public Civil Action filed in August 2020 by the MPT is closed. The agency requested the payment of compensation for R$272 million to repair damage to workers and reactivate the unit.
Nitrogenated Araucaria
In 2020, the oil company ended production at the factory after claiming losses since it was acquired in 2013. It stated that the results demonstrated the lack of sustainability of the business. From January to September 2019, the loss was almost R$250 million.
Araucária Nitrogenados has the capacity to process around 1,900 tons per day of urea and 1,300 tons per day of ammonia, used in the production of agricultural fertilizers.
The manufacturing raw material is asphalt residue, obtained from Repair (Getúlio Vargas Refinery), an oil company unit also located in the city of Araucária (PR).
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