The former Industrias Titán wants to lay off 120 workers at its El Prat de Llobregat plant

BarcelonaThe Dutch multinational AkzoNobel –which bought the former Titan Industries in 2020AkzoNobel has launched a workforce reduction plan (ERE) that could affect 120 workers at its plant in El Prat de Llobregat. The CO.BAS union, which holds a majority of the workforce representation, considers this business decision "completely unjustified" and believes it was made "with the intention of repressing union activity at a plant with a long and strong tradition of struggle." The union points out that in recent years, union action has prevented the implementation of wage cuts and other "measures that degrade working conditions," unlike what has happened at other AkzoNobel workplaces in Catalonia. The Colectivo Ronda cooperative of lawyers, which advises the workers, explained in a statement that the proposed layoffs would reduce the current workforce of approximately 200 people by about 60% and "the virtual disappearance of the plant's productive capacity." In January, AzkoNobel announced the transformation of its El Prat plant into a production center exclusively for water-based paints, with an investment of 11 million euros. This change has led to a workforce reduction plan (ERE) and 120 layoffs. "The company is approaching this process with the utmost respect for its employees and their legal representatives, and with a full commitment to reaching a mutually beneficial agreement," the group stated. When contacted by ARA, management declined to comment further "out of respect for the negotiation process." CO.BAS, the Basque Country Workers' Union, emphasized that the multinational completed an investment and modernization plan for machinery and processes at these facilities last July and expressed surprise at the changes observed in recent months. "Since last June, the El Prat de Llobregat plant has seen increases in all activity levels recorded since 2019. Overtime hours worked by the workforce have multiplied, an extraordinary night production shift has been added, and in many cases, vacations planned for 2025 have even been postponed. This has resulted not only in a dramatic increase in production at the plant, but also in an increase in business volume and profit margin. In this context and under these circumstances, what sense does it make to lay off 120 people, almost all of whom are dedicated to plant production?"

Union response

Thus, CO.BAS representatives accuse the company of applying "a desire to repress union activity at the plant as the only reasonable explanation for a collective dismissal that has no economic, technical, or production-related justification." In this regard, they consider it "highly significant" that 120 is precisely "the number of people affiliated with CO.BAS and that El Prat de Llobregat is the only center where the union has a majority and also the only one where worker mobilization has prevented the implementation of measures detrimental to the workers that have been applied elsewhere."