SAO PAULO, Brazil, April 28 (Reuters) - Some 2,500 metalworkers at a Renault auto factory in southern Brazil went back to work on Monday, ending a four-day strike after winning a bonus to compensate for high inflation.
A union spokeswoman said the French automaker agreed to pay employees at its Sao Jose dos Pinhais factory in Parana state a one-time bonus of 500 reais ($166) to be disbursed on May 30.
Renault also agreed to gradually reduce the work week without a pay cut at the factory to 41 hours from 42 hours beginning in September, and to 40 hours next March.
The agreement is the third deal reached by automakers and factory workers in as many days. On Friday, some 1,500 employees at a nearby Volvo truck and bus factory ended a 20-hour walkout after winning a 600 reais bonus, and Volkswagen AG averted a strike by offering a 500 reais bonus.
However, production remained halted at a General Motors Corp. plant in Sao Paulo state, where some 10,000 workers went on strike last Tuesday to demand a shorter work week and a bonus equal to 10.39 percent of their earnings from September through February to make up for a sharp surge in inflation that cut into their buying power.
An official from the Labor Ministry is expected to meet with union leaders and GM management later on Monday in Sao Paulo to try to mediate an end to the dispute. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, himself a former metalworker and union boss, has so far distanced himself from the strike, urging the parties to negotiate a quick solution.
The strike at GM's Sao Jose dos Campos plant, which normally churns out 640 cars and 1,600 engines a day, has also slowed production at the automaker's factory in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, which depends on the motors made in Sao Paulo.
GM's Sao Jose factory produces Corsa hatchbacks and sedans, the Meriva and Zafira minivans, and the medium-sized S-10 pickup truck. Its Gravatai factory in Rio Grande do Sul produces the compact Celta model.