On behalf of workers in the footwear, furniture and textile industries, senator Paulo Paim (PT-RS) appealed vehemently to the government to examine the situation of these industries all over the country, since they face “one of the biggest crises of their existence” because of the entrance of cheap products coming from China.

Paim said that 25 thousand jobs – of legally registered employees - in the footwear area and another 25 thousand indirectly employed have already been eliminated because many plants are closing by virtue of the Chinese products low prices. In 2005, 60 footwear plants were closed in the country, with the sacking of 5 thousand workers in Franca (SP) and 18 thousand in Vale do Rio dos Sinos (RS), two footwear centers in Brazil.

The senator went on to say that the final blow has been done by the dollar’s decline when compared to the Brazilian real. He added that businessmen say it is impossible to compete globally with Chinese products. In 2005, Brazil imported 13 million pairs of shoes from Asia, which were manufactured by low-wage workers without minimal labor rights.