General Motors plans two-week furlough at Brazil plant: union

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - General Motors Co (NYSE: GM) is planning a two-week furlough for about 2,200 workers at a Brazilian plant, union leaders said on Wednesday, adding to signs that a four-year crisis in the country's auto industry is stretching into 2017.

The metalworkers union in Sao Jose dos Campos, about 60 miles (100 km) outside of Sao Paulo, said the automaker had not given reasons for the furlough at the plant, which employs about 5,000 workers and produces the Trail Blazer and S10.

"It may be a consequence of the diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United States after Donald Trump took office," said union leader Antonio Ferreira de Barros in a statement referring to the furlough. He said the action is expected to begin on Feb. 13 and extend through the Carnival holiday.

GM representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The national automakers association lowered its 2017 forecast last month to just 4 percent sales growth as lingering political uncertainty weighs on a weak economic recovery in a market where sales plunged 20 percent last year.

(Reporting by Brad Haynes; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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