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Gerdau workers hold minute of silence

20 June, 2011Workers down tools and hold minute of silence to call for a global health and safety committee in Gerdau following the death of a worker in Spain.

SPAIN/GLOBAL: On June 17,  2011, around 4 am, Raúl Gutiérrez Gonzalez was killed because of his work in the Gerdau plant in Reinosa, Spain. Workers at the plant called a 24-hour strike to remember their colleague. They also demanded an investigation into reasons of the death and better safety.

Raúl Gutiérrez Gonzalez was 40 years old and father of a seven year old son. Less than a year ago another Gerdau worker, Aitor, was killed in the Gerdau plant in Basauri, Spain. 

The Gerdau Workers' World Council calls on all workers at Gerdau plants around the world to hold a minute of silence on June 20 in memory of brother Gutierrez Gonzalez and all workers killed on the job.

The World Council also calls on the company to accept the creation of a Joint International Committee on Health and Safety to ensure that such situations do not occur again.

The IMF regularly reports on Gerdau and the Gerdau Workers' World Council here.