The Ficosa factory begins an indefinite strike
The unions label the company's proposals to reduce dismissals as "unacceptable"
BarcelonaFicosa workers begin an indefinite strike in protest of the dismissals planned by the company. This Thursday, union representatives and the company met to renegotiate the impacts, and the number of dismissals was reduced from the initial 172 to 113. Specifically, the reduction was made through two channels: on one hand, the automotive components company agreed to transform the impacts in the engineering department into an ERTO (Temporary Employment Regulation File) of 18 months for 38 workers. And, on the other hand, of the 125 dismissals planned for the production plant, the figure has been reduced to 113.
The reduction in impacts, however, has not convinced the workers' assembly that met this Thursday evening, which has labeled the company's proposal as "unacceptable." And, as communicated by CGT – which has a union majority – an indefinite strike has been called in the production section that will paralyze the plant's activity.
For Sole Beltran, president of the company committee for CGT, after six meetings with the company, it is offering "ridiculous" economic compensation that will leave more than a hundred workers on the street without enough income to survive. Specifically, according to union sources speaking to ARA, Ficosa is offering a compensation of 18 days per year worked in fifteen payments.
The union organization also criticizes the company for initiating this staff reduction after registering "record turnovers" in recent quarters. They also regret that the company has agreed to reconvert the plant to enter the defense industry. Ficosa – founded 75 years ago, operating in 15 countries and with a workforce of approximately 8,000 employees – has also been in the news after Xavier Pujol, the company's CEO, achieved a majority in the group's shareholding after repurchasing the stake previously held by the Japanese multinational Panasonic. The operation, closed on March 27, once again places the majority of the capital in the hands of a member of the group's founding family.
