Magneti Marelli plans to close its Santpedor plant and lay off 52 employees.

BarcelonaThe automotive components company Magneti Marelli has informed its workers that it will open a redundancy plan (ERE) to dismiss 52 employees and close its factory in Santpedor (Bages), union representatives explained on Tuesday. Last week, the company's management informed the plant's works council of its intention to cease operations at these facilities and lay off the workforce, citing financial losses and a drop in production, according to a statement from the CCOO (Working Council of Workers' Commissions).

Meanwhile, sources from the Labor Department have explained to Efe that they are not aware that the company has filed the ERE for now. The CCOO (Working Council of Workers' Commissions) is demanding that the company withdraw the ERE and sit down to negotiate with them to find alternatives that will allow the factory to continue operating. Furthermore, the union rejected the reasons cited by the company because "they do not respond to objective reasons, but rather to a global strategic decision of the group." The CCOO (COO) has also urged the Catalan government to intervene with the multinational "in defense of the industrial fabric and employment in Catalonia, and especially in the Bages region, due to the impact this closure would have."

Magneti Marelli has two other plants in Catalonia, one in Barberà del Vallès (Vallès Occidental) and another in Llinars del Vallès (Vallès Oriental). In 2023, the company and union representatives at the Barberà del Vallès factory reached an agreement to implement a temporary employment regulation file (ERTO) that affected the entire workforce at this plant and entailed a 70-day cessation of production due to the drop in productivity.

Specifically, Marelli's parent company is in the midst of a global restructuring process that has ultimately affected this Catalan factory. The company is owned by the US fund KKR and filed for bankruptcy protection in June to restructure its debt while maintaining its operations. Behind these difficulties lies the crisis in the automotive sector. The Santpedor plant manufactures exhaust pipes, a component that is suffering greatly from the industry's shift toward electric vehicles.