26/1/2021
Entrepreneur Luciano Hang, Havan’s owner, will contest the legality of the sale process of the property of “Companhia Industrial Schlösser”, held on January 17, to the company GBA Têxtil, in Guabiruba, in the amount of R $ 7.3 million. The information was passed on at a press conference this Tuesday, 26, at the Havan’s Administrative Center.
On the occasion, the entrepreneur pointed out that in December 2020 representatives of the Textile Workers’ Union (Sintrafite) and the Masters and Foreman’s Union (Sindmestre) approached Havan and formulated a sale proposal. “The property has been abandoned for more than a decade and there was no one interested in buying it. From that contact, we negotiated and accepted the sale proposal. We were waiting for the January 17th meeting with the former employees to ratify the purchase. However, that is not what happened. When Havan’s expansion director, Nilton Hang, appeared on January 17, he was informed that there would be an auction. We didn’t know anything. I was in the hospital with Covid-19 and he was not allowed to negotiate outside of what had already been agreed. There was a lack of transparency in the negotiations”, he says.
Havan’s lawyer, Murilo Varasquim, explains that, according to art. 166 of the Civil Code, any legal transaction that has not fulfilled the formalities provided by law is null. In the case of an auction, the unions had to publish a notice in a large circulation communication vehicle and send the notice to former Schlösser employees informing the holding of the Assembly. This obligation is even included in the statute of the two unions. “These procedures have not been completed. For this reason, any type of negotiation on the 17th of January has no validity”, he warns.
In addition to this nullity of summons and publicity, there was a violation of good faith, as the unions did not inform Havan that it would participate in an auction.
Luciano points out that the representatives of the two unions were sought for a negotiation, since there was already a promise of sale prior to January 17. “We could pay in cash or in less time than anticipated in the initial proposal. Those who are losing with this lack of fairness are the workers, who could get paid more quickly. Especially in this pandemic moment when everyone is in need of money”, highlights the businessman.
In the proposal, agreed on January 17 with the GBA, workers will receive a share in July 2021 and the remainder in installments every six months. The union representatives informed the Havan team that they decided not to disclose the auction because the other companies could lose interest if they knew that Havan would be participating. In other words: they admitted that they hid the real purpose of the assembly, in order to attract more interested parties. And with that, they violated Havan’s right to be informed with transparency and in advance that there would be an auction. “Once again, where is business ethics? The exemption? What is the real reason why the unions are acting this way?”, asks Luciano.
It is also important to note that in a meeting with the legal representatives of the unions, the information that there was no contract signature or payment to celebrate the sale of the property was passed on. Therefore, the decision that would preserve the interest of union members would be to redo the act with the participation of all interested parties, especially because they could receive it in cash.
Chronology of the facts:
December 2020 – Representatives of the Union of Textile Workers (Sintrafite) and the Union of Masters and Foreman (Sindmestre) make a proposal to sell the property located on Avenida Getúlio Vargas to Havan;
12/17/2020 – The expansion director, Nilton Hang, sends an email agreeing with the proposal of the directors of the unions;
01/11/2021 – The expansion director receives a statement that the meeting to approve Havan’s proposal will take place on 01/17/2021. The press announces a meeting to approve Havan’s proposal;
01/22/2021 – The unions are informed that the sale to GBA is null for the following reasons: violation of good faith (legitimate expectation from Havan) and non-observance of the formalities for calling the meeting (null legal act);
01/25/2021 – In a meeting between the directors of the unions and Havan, it was found that there was no sale signature or receipt of values from the other company. Havan requested a new meeting in which it could be prepared for the auction and with a better proposal. Even so, union representatives did not reconsider, which represents a loss for former Schlösser employees. At this meeting, the unions admit that they did not make a public call to avoid dismissing other interested parties;
1/26/2021 – Havan calls a press conference to explain the facts to the community and to let former employees of “Companhia Industrial Schlösser” know that they are being harmed.