The German multinational Volkswagen will reduce by 24% the working day of its employees in the main plant it has in Brazil and will cut wages by 12% from next July, union sources reported on Wednesday.

The move was agreed upon between the company and the ABC Metallurgists’ Union, due to the lack of parts for car production, amid the global semiconductor shortage crisis.

Volkswagen’s main plant in Brazil is located in the municipality of Sao Bernardo do Campo, in the state of Sao Paulo. And, according to the union, about 8,200 employees work there, of which 4,500, who work in the production area, will be directly affected.

Initially, it was intended to suspend a production shift, but due to the impact that this would entail, it was decided to negotiate the reduction of the working day.

“It is the best tool we have at the moment, which will be evaluated month by month and may undergo changes until the situation normalizes,” Wellington Damasceno, the union’s administrative director, was quoted as saying in a statement.

The measure will apply to the return of the ten-day collective holidays of production workers – scheduled between June 27 and July 7 – another measure that was also determined two weeks ago by the lack of parts and that adds to other similar ones registered this year by the German company.

In recent months, the lack of raw materials due to global shortages has forced most Brazilian vehicle manufacturers to considerably reduce their activities.

Between January and May of this year, Brazil manufactured 888,100 vehicles, 9.5% less than those produced in the same period of 2021, due to the crisis of supply of parts, aggravated by the war in Ukraine.