Ford agrees to conduct two more months of ERTE in Almussafes, affecting 2,300 workers

Address Ford and W.G.T. This Wednesday they agreed on new two-month ERTE V Factory Almussafes(Valencia), which will affect 2,300 workers and with which, for the majority union, “The countdown is beginning to clarify the unknowns that are still unresolved.”

As the UGT announced on Tuesday, a new temporary file has been approved at the plant, which will replace the one that was already in force until April 19.

Following the latest consultation meeting, the union stated that the new ERTE agreement would be in force from April 20 to June 20 and that 2,300 workers would be affected within ten days as the termination Production of transit vans Added to this are engine supply problems and declining demand in the North American market.

Specifically, as UGT explained on Tuesday, ERTE will affect 1,400 people per day in the automotive industry (800 due to the cessation of Transit and 600 due to lack of production) and 900 people in engines.

The engine plant will remain closed at all sites for 10 days; 5 days in May (20,21,22,27 and 28) and 5 days in June (3,10,11,17 and 18). This exposure will mean no vehicle work for four weeks on the evening shift.

The working conditions of the staff will be “exactly” the same as those agreed in the previous ERTE. The VGT explained: 80% of real wages and 100% of length of service, additional pay and vacation.

“TWO MONTHS THAT SHOULD PROVIDE CALM”

“From today we can say that the countdown begins to clarify the unknowns that are still unresolved. Two months that They should give us some peace of mind for the transit we will have to undertake until the new multi-energy vehicle arrives.announced by (global president of the firm) Jim Farley on March 27 in Dunton for UGT, will begin production in Valencia,” the union said in a statement after the agreement was signed.

UGT reiterated that management’s expressed commitment to hand over the new car to Almussafes “solved the main problem” facing the plant and Ford of Europe as a whole: lack of workload, while the multinational postponed the decision to invest in electrification, taking into account. that on this Wednesday the Valencian plant will stop producing the Transit van.

However, the new car “It doesn’t solve everything in one fell swoop, far from it”, UGT warned. “Now, during this period of time, we will be holding various meetings and conversations with colleagues from the Ford European Works Council (CEEF) and European and local management themselves. In these two months we will launch an information campaign for all our members, which will be key.“, the majority union has moved forward. The plant has been facing uncertainty for months regarding the arrival of the investments needed to produce the oval firm’s electric vehicles. The Valencia plant has been selected in 2022 to produce its new platform electric vehicles from 2025, but the investments needed for this have not materialized and were not announced, and last November Ford announced it was delaying “any decision related to investment.”

Until investments began, the plant had to adjust production due to declining sales. On 17 April this year, Ford Almussafes will cease production of the Transit van and the only model until the introduction of the new electric models was the Kuga.

In principle, electrification was expected to accommodate the workload at Almussafes in the coming years, leading to an agreement with UGT whereby the company’s new agreement included wage and flexibility measures driven by electrification. Ford’s award did not prevent the need for workforce changes through ERE, which This affected 1,124 workers.

The company has applied to participate in both lines of the new competition of the Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation of Electric and Connected Vehicles (Perte VEC II). The Ministry of Industry has allocated €37.6 million from battery production to establish a battery assembly plant at the Almussafes plant, and Ford has also requested assistance for the electric vehicle value chain.