Guala Closures plans to lay off almost all of its workers in Catalonia

BarcelonaThe company Guala Closures—specializing in the manufacture of bottle caps— has notified its staff of its intention to file for a collective redundancy procedure (ERO) at its plant located in Olèrdola (Alt Penedès). According to union sources, the company plans to lay off 82 of the 87 employees working at the center.

Negotiations between the group's management and the works council are scheduled to begin this Wednesday, June 3, but, as the same sources assure, the workers' representatives plan to reject the ERO, which they claim hides a "relocation."

The fact is that Guala Closures employees have seen how products that have always been produced in Olèrdola, such as bottle caps for brands like Solán de Cabras or Vichy Catalán, have recently begun to be manufactured in Poland, where the company also has production centers. This situation has reached an extreme that would have led the company to consider that the plant in Catalonia is not profitable enough, according to union sources regarding what the company informed them this past Friday.

"Industrial reorganization"

For its part, the company assures that the planned layoffs respond to a "reorganization of its industrial presence in Spain". According to a statement sent by Guala Closures to ARA, this plan foresees "transforming" the Olèrdola plant "into a center where customer service, quality, and technical service functions will be maintained". Furthermore, the reorganization plan would include "strengthening" the operations of its plant in Jerez de la Frontera, Andalusia. "The details of the industrial reorganization will depend on the outcome of the consultation process with the workers' representatives, which will take place in the coming weeks", concludes the statement.

The Olèrdola plant has more than a century of history and is one of the historic industrial centers of the Alt Penedès. It was born under the name Cápsulas Metálicas, but it changed owners until it reached the hands of the Italian company Guala Closures. Currently, the plant manufactures both caps for wines for clients like Familia Torres, and aluminum ones for brands like Vichy. It is planned that the layoffs will affect 20 people over 60 years old, and workers point out that there will be mobilizations.