Nissan proposes a redundancy plan for 211 workers in Catalonia, affecting 37% of the 569 employees it has across the three centers it maintains in the region. The Japanese car manufacturer informed the unions this Monday about the opening of a file that will impact all three facilities. It will involve reducing the activity of the El Prat spare parts center to a minimum, the most affected with 110 out of 122 workers impacted, 90%. The unions fear the center may eventually close. At the technical center in Barcelona and the functional areas center in El Prat, a quarter of the jobs are proposed to be cut, with 86 and 15 departures respectively.
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The adjustment represents another step in dismantling Nissan’s industrial footprint in Catalonia. The Spanish file cites economic, productive, and organizational reasons. Just over four years ago, it closed the Zona Franca, Montcada, and Sant Andreu de la Barca factories, affecting 2,500 workers. Plagued by billion-euro losses, the company has a plan underway for 900 layoffs across Europe, making Catalonia one of the most affected if the proposed figures materialize, with nearly one in four jobs lost on the continent. Company sources explain that it is necessary to adapt the size to its current market situation, with a global adjustment plan seeking cost reduction through changes and reorganization of functions.
“We reject the redundancy plan. It is a new irresponsibility by Nissan’s management towards Barcelona, Catalonia, and Spain. It makes no sense; years ago, we agreed on a file to ensure viability, and now they tell us again that a restructuring is needed,” criticizes Miguel Ruiz, general secretary of Sigen-Usoc.
The El Prat spare parts center will be reduced to a minimum and a subsequent closure is feared
According to a statement from the negotiating table unions – Sigen-Usoc, UGT, and CC.OO. – Nissan currently has three centers in Catalonia. The most affected by the proposed redundancy plan is the El Prat spare parts center. Known as Nissan Estruch, it will be reduced to a minimum. It handles the distribution of parts, accessories, and spares to the network in Spain and other countries. The redundancy plan would impact 110 of its 122 workers, 90%. The unions fear it will end up closing. The company points out that the change in the logistics management model necessitates the adjustment.
At the Zona Franca technical center, focused on engineering and product service, there are 383 workers, with 86 departures proposed, 22% of the assigned staff. Finally, at the El Prat functional areas center – such as human resources or prevention – 15 departures are proposed out of a staff of 64, affecting 24%.
Unions and Nissan have scheduled a new meeting next Thursday the 14th with mediation from Treball. “We will continue defending the continuity of work for all those affected by the file,” states Juan Carlos Yepes, general secretary of the UGT union section at the spare parts center. The manufacturer frames the layoffs within a plan for 900 dismissals in Europe, justified by a search for efficiency and competitiveness in an environment of heavy global losses. With the figures now known, one in four jobs will be lost in Spain. The Japanese company points to a global adjustment of 20,000 jobs. Company sources have indicated in recent weeks that there are objective reasons to launch the adjustment and that it is “in a transformation plan” to turn the business around, with an estimated loss of nearly 3 billion euros for the current fiscal year.
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One in four layoffs in Europe would occur in Catalonia
The unions reject the start of the consultation period because they believe there are formal procedural defects in the company’s prior communications, as European-level consultation periods have been held that were not communicated to them. Despite union rejection, the 30-day period to agree on the redundancy plan has begun. Nissan assures that in the dialogue process, they will seek the “least traumatic” possible measures.
The unions have announced mobilizations for the coming days. At the spare parts center, an indefinite strike has been called, which will be activated depending on the process. Beyond the impact on Nissan itself, Ruiz points out that each job lost at the company has a multiplier effect of up to seven jobs across the entire supplier chain.
Nissan has other industrial centers in Spain, such as Cantabria – specialized in foundry – and Ávila – accessories and spares – which are not affected by this adjustment at the moment.
After the closure of the Barcelona factory a few years ago, a reindustrialization process began that ended with Ebro EV Motors and its Chinese partner Chery in the facilities, saving just under a thousand jobs.
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