The French-based automotive components multinational, Valeo, has announced the closure of its plant in San Esteves de Sesrovira, Spain, with the loss of 256 jobs. In February 2003, an agreement was reached on a package of compensation payments, pre-retirement and redeployment for the workers concerned. Trade unions see the closure as another example of a transfer of production from Spain to the low labour cost countries of central and eastern Europe.
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The French-based automotive components multinational, Valeo, has announced the closure of its plant in San Esteves de Sesrovira, Spain, with the loss of 256 jobs. In February 2003, an agreement was reached on a package of compensation payments, pre-retirement and redeployment for the workers concerned. Trade unions see the closure as another example of a transfer of production from Spain to the low labour cost countries of central and eastern Europe.
Valeo, the French-based automotive components multinational, is to close its Valeo Iluminación lighting systems plant in San Esteves de Sesrovira (Barcelona), with the loss of 256 jobs. Valeo has five other plants in Catalonia, with 2,000 employees. The reason for the closure of the plant put forward by the company is the transfer of production to another plant at Martos (Jaén). However, the trade unions state that production is being transferred to central and eastern European countries, where Valeo has a number of plants (in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania). Several similar transfers have occurred recently in the Spanish automotive sector (ES0211202N and ES0210204F).
The closure of the San Esteves de Sesrovira plant was preceded by a redundancy procedure and then by a strike, the establishment by workers of a camp in front of the factory gates, and finally bargaining, which ended with an agreement on the closure. The agreement, approved by a mass meeting of workers on 13 February 2003, consists of the following points:
pre-retirement for 56 workers over the age of 52, with 90% of their pay and with an annual increase of 2%, plus compensation of 20 days' pay per year of service up to a maximum of 30 months; and
for the other 200 workers, a payment of 45 days' pay per year of service or the possibility of transferring to the plant in Jaén (which the company did not accept at the beginning of the bargaining).
The preliminary agreement, negotiated by the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (Comisiones Obreras, CC.OO) with the management of the company, gave rise to a conflict - including alleged violence and intimidation - with some members of the General Confederation of Labour (Confederación General del Trabajo, CGT), which opposed it. CC.OO served an injunction on the leadership of CGT calling on them to put an end to this type of alleged action, and asked the plant's workers' committee to state its rejection of the use of any type of violence.
The closure of the plant should be seen in the context of falling exports due to the economic downturn in Germany, France and Italy. This affects in particular the auxiliary motor manufacturing sector, motorcycles and textiles.
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Eurofound (2003), Valeo plant closes with loss of 256 jobs, article.
