Without buyers: the historic Serra Soldadura, at risk of disappearing
In the last weeks it had been reported that a dozen companies had shown interest in buying it
BarcelonaIt was planned that this Wednesday morning the future of the historic Barcelona industrial company Serra Soldadura would reach a turning point. After Aernnova – owner of the company since 2008 – filed for voluntary liquidation bankruptcy to dissolve Serra Soldadura, this Wednesday the auction of the two companies that form it was scheduled. However, as union sources explain to ARA, the auction has been declared void after no potential buyer has come forward. "We didn't expect this," explain CGT sources, which holds the union majority in the company.
The staff's surprise comes after, in the last meetings with the insolvency administrator, the company and the Generalitat, these informed the union representatives that there were about ten potential interested parties, although they did not specify who they were. The setback comes a few days before the bankruptcy proceedings deadlines expire: if a buyer is not found before May 29, the workers will be unemployed and the company will be dissolved, according to union sources. Currently, nearly 200 workers make up the Serra Soldadura workforce, which also generates about 300 indirect jobs.
Mobilization
Faced with this situation, nearly a hundred workers from the Barcelona Free Trade Zone company plan to travel tomorrow to the Basque Country to demonstrate in front of the headquarters of Aernnova Aerospace, located in Miñaogutxia. Subsequently, the employees plan to move the protest to in front of the Basque Parliament. “Aernnova has let an almost century-old company, a leader in the Catalan 4.0 industrial fabric, die,” stated Sebastián Zamora, CGT union delegate, after learning that no potential buyer had attended the auction. Zamora also accused Aernnova's management of making a "terrible management" and of not seeking solutions.
As union voices explain, the staff blames Aernnova for not being able to find a way to guarantee the economic viability of a company that "works well." In fact, according to their indications, in recent years it had invoiced more than 70 million euros and had not registered losses. Serra Soldadura –a company founded in 1934– has clients such as Stellantis, Ebro, or Airbus.