Izar shipyards rescue plan proves controversial

* Izar was created from a merger of the former Bazán and Astilleros Españoles SA (AESA).

Source: El País.

If the figures are confirmed, almost 85% of the 11,077 employees will be relocated, and 2,000 will take voluntary redundancy or pre-retirement, or be redeployed in other companies. The future of the auxiliary firms that depend on the shipyards is highly uncertain.

The Minister of Labour has stated that the Izar shipyards are not viable at present and that the group must be restructured, whilst conserving the greatest possible number of jobs. The Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, has announced that he will save the shipyards and 'leave no workers to their fate', and sees the solution as lying in the framework of the SEPI plan.

The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Commerce has stated that the restructuring plan for Izar could require 'accompanying measures and additional resources' when SEPI has ended current negotiations with the trade unions and with the European Commission. In 2005, Izar will receive subsidies for shipbuilding from the Ministry - in accordance with Community legislation - of EUR 32.7 million, which is almost four times the EUR 9.6 million that it has received in the 2004 financial year. The total budget for shipbuilding in 2005 is EUR 209 million.

The government considers that Izar's problems have been inherited from the previous PP government, in response to which the PP has accused the government of demagoguery. The rest of the parliamentary groups are against the rescue plan for different reasons. The position of the presidents of regional governments varies according to their political affinity.

Addressing the problems of Izar, and the new plan, will involve multilateral negotiations. The main parties to these negotiations are the trade unions, followed by the regional governments and the town councils affected.

The position of the trade unions

The trade unions represented at Izar are the General Workers’ Confederation (Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT), the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (Comisiones Obreras, CC.OO), Basque Workers' Solidarity (Eusko Langileen Alkartasuna/Sindicato de Trabajadores Vascos, ELA-STV), the Galician Workers' Trade Union (Unión Sindical de Trabajadores de Galicia, USTG), the Autonomous Collective of Workers (Colectivo Autónomo de Trabajadores, CAT) and the the Galician Union Confederation (Converxencia Intersindical Galega/Confederación Intersindical Galega). They consider that SEPI has failed to negotiate seriously with the EU over the subsidies ruling and that, though the period granted to reach a settlement provides some relief, the case involves unacceptable interference by the European Commission in the content of the talks over the future of Izar, according to Agustín Pérez of CC.OO. The unions consider that a solution must be reached through concertation, if the dispute is not to be prolonged. They claim that it is possible to keep the civil shipyards in public ownership and within the group alongside the military shipyards. In the unions' opinion, though the sector must be modernised and specialised, it is viable (in 2003, some 180 vessels were produced), particularly now that all vessels manufactured must meet regulations requiring a double hull, and that shipbuilding it is an important European industry.

CC.OO feels that the future of Izar lies in the creation of a major European naval consortium with its own strategy. It estimates that the measures announced by SEPI will affect 10,800 Izar employees, plus 20,000 jobs in auxiliary industries, having a serious impact in the towns affected. The workers' committee at Izar's Gijón yard fears that private investors purchasing part of the group may be tempted to use its real estate rather than making ships, and that this would threaten its future.

There have been a number of stoppages and strikes by Izar workers in protest at the rescue plan, and major demonstrations and traffic blockades in the towns affected. Although tension remains high, the trade unions have opened a channel of bargaining and agreed the following criteria with SEPI:

• the final structure of the Izar firms will be decided by the parties, bearing in mind the EU framework;

• individual solutions will not be found for each location, but there will be an overall industrial design for the shipyards;

• a period will be agreed with the European Commission to facilitate dialogue; and

• no unilateral solutions will be adopted.

Commentary

The previous PP government did not adopt a structural strategy for the shipyards and merely provided partial solutions, putting off the problem by providing subsidies without investing in modernisation and specialisation. The new government has accepted the dictates of the market and is minimising and cushioning the restructuring that the Izar crisis would seem to require. It has arguably adopted a defensive strategy without exploring all the possibilities. The solution will not be found at a local or national level but must be faced through a proper industrial policy at least at the level of the EU. This policy must have a coherent common strategy that makes production in this sector consistent and innovative in the long term, whilst respecting the jobs and labour rights of the workers. (Daniel Albarracín, CIREM Foundation)