Strike at Midea in Pouso Alegre after assault allegation reignites accusations of harassment, humiliation, and pressure on the factory floor.
On June 23, 2026, the Midea factory in Pouso Alegre, in the south of Minas Gerais, became the scene of a strike that gathered around 1,200 workers. The protest was organized following an allegation that a Brazilian employee was physically assaulted by a foreign manager within the industrial unit.
According to reports reproduced by the local press and O Tempo, the allegation came from the union of the category and mentions slaps on the rib area and a blow to the back with a rubber sealing piece (similar in shape to a whip), called gaxeta or gracheta in different accounts.
What happened at the Midea factory in Pouso Alegre
According to the president of the Metalworkers’ Union of Pouso Alegre and region, the reported case occurred on June 15, during an incident related to the interruption of a production line. The worker, who works in the quality sector, was reportedly approached and assaulted by the manager during the shift.
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The strike happened days later, at dawn on June 23, and focused on demanding rigorous investigation, accountability, and concrete measures from the company.
The mobilization was not described merely as a reaction to an isolated episode, but as a response to an environment that, according to the union, had already accumulated previous complaints.
Why 1,200 workers downed tools at Midea
The number of around 1,200 employees on strike appears in reports on the case and helps measure the level of indignation within the unit.
The significant participation turned the complaint into a labor crisis with high regional repercussions, with the potential to escalate into a broader conflict between the company and the category.
The strike was presented by union representatives as a direct message against any attempt to normalize physical aggression in the industrial environment. The leaders’ discourse emphasized that the worker leaves home to produce, not to be humiliated or assaulted inside the factory.
In addition to the immediate protest, the union reported that it filed a police report and took the case to the Minas Gerais Labor Prosecutor’s Office. The entity also mentioned the possibility of intensifying the movement if there was no effective response from the company.
Reports of harassment and humiliation intensified the crisis at the factory
The crisis gained greater dimension because the aggression episode did not appear alone. In an article published on June 24, O Tempo reported that the union presented a broader set of accusations about the work environment at the unit, including moral harassment, intense pressure on assembly lines, and restrictions on bathroom breaks.
According to these reports, factory leadership was denying or complicating requests for workers to leave their posts to use the restrooms, arguing that production could not stop. The most serious account cited by the newspaper involves female employees who reportedly urinated or defecated in their clothes after failing to obtain timely permission.
These accusations are very serious but need to be handled with precision. So far, they appear as union allegations reproduced by the press. There is no public confirmation from the consulted sources of an official conclusion on these reports.
What Midea says about the assault allegation
Check the full statement:
The company reiterates that it does not condone any forms of violence, harassment, discrimination, or conduct incompatible with its values, Code of Conduct, and internal policies, remaining available for necessary clarifications.
Midea Indústria do Brasil informs that it is aware of the allegations made by the Metalworkers’ Union of Pouso Alegre and Region, having taken, at the time of the event, the measures provided for in our internal protocols, suspending the involved party while the facts are being investigated with seriousness and impartiality.
What’s at stake after the protest at Midea in MG
The case has moved beyond being just an individual complaint and has exposed a larger dispute over dignity at work, production conditions, and the limits of pressure on the factory floor. When a strike mobilizes more than a thousand people, the episode ceases to be restricted to the involved sector and becomes a structural problem for the operation and the company’s image.
A broader economic and labor agenda also came onto the radar. O Tempo reported that the union linked the tension to other deadlocks, such as discussions about the career and salary plan, meal ticket, and 2026 PLR, indicating that the reported aggression acted as a trigger for an already accumulated dissatisfaction.
