After more than 24 hours of marathon meetings, automotive producer Nissan and unions representing company employees have reached an agreement not to close any of the firm's three Catalan plants until December 2021. Specifically, the agreement states that until this date there will be no forced layoffs by the company, despite the fact that a voluntary layoff scheme for workers who wish to take part is contemplated.
In May this year, in the midst of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida announced that the Catalan plants, key elements in Catalonia's industrial fabric, would close in December this year. The move was explained as part of a plan to restructure the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alliance with a clear goal of cutting costs. Now, the closure has been delayed for 12 months.
Today's agreement came after the Japanese car giant improved some conditions to meet the demands of the more than 2,500 plant workers who will end up losing their jobs when the three plants are finally closed: the major production centre in Barcelona's Zona Franca industrial area and the two auxiliary plants in the metropolitan area, at Moncada i Reixach and Sant Andreu de la Barca.
The final agreement includes a preferential option for current plant workers in the event of a re-industrialization of the plants under a different firm. In addition, there will be no limits built-in to the deal on the compensation that workers can receive, a demand made by the unions. As well, workers who are currently between 50 and 54 years old will have special conditions.
The Nissan workforce will meet on Thursday to ratify the agreement in order to validate the deal reached with Nissan. Meanwhile, this evening, the parties' lawyers are reviewing the wording of the document, which will have to be signed by both parties.
According to the Catalan and Spanish governments, this extra time is enough to find a company that will take over the facilities and jobs that Nissan will leave behind in Catalonia.
As well as the 3,000 workers employed directly at the plant, it is estimated that around 13,000 further jobs indirectly depend on the continuity of production at the Nissan plants.