SAO PAULO, Brazil, July 22 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp. said on Tuesday it has fired 450 workers from a factory in Brazil as the contracting local car market took another hit a day after Germany's Volkswagen AG said it would slash nearly 4,000 jobs in the country.
In a statement, General Motors said it would cut the 450 jobs at a unit in Sao Jose dos Campos in Sao Paulo state which employs about 8,500 workers.
The cuts were carried out after a period of voluntary lay-offs, during which General Motors hoped 600 workers would vacate their positions.
The head of the metal workers union of Sao Jose dos Campos, Luiz Carlos Prates, said the workers were fired after too few laborers opted for the voluntary lay-off program.
"We will demand the return of the fired workers," Prates said. "If there is no agreement we will go on strike in 48 hours."
With stiflingly high interest rates and low investment, Brazil's economy has come to a virtual standstill in recent months under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who came to power in January.
Auto sales in Brazil fell 8.2 percent in the first six months of the year from the same period of 2002.
Several of Brazil's leading car makers have periodically suspended production in recent months due to the contracting market.
Workers at VW's Anchieta plant -- where many of VW's nearly 4,000 job cuts in Brazil announced on Monday will take place -- threatened on Tuesday to go on strike if the German auto maker breaks contracts they say ensured job stability until 2006.