First agreement at Ford Almussafes after months of tug-of-war between unions and management. Last week the company proposed an ERTE due to the reduction in production and the staff responded with reluctance and conditions, as in any negotiation process, since the future of the plant as an electrical platform has not yet been finalized. That is why this Monday the characteristics of the ERTE were agreed, but with the UGT-PV union emphasizing that what was agreed will apply until March 28: “What may happen afterward will depend on the meeting we hold at UGT with the leadership. Ford’s leadership worldwide,” they insist.
Thus, they have agreed that the ERTE, which begins tomorrow, will affect differently depending on the plant: in the engine plant there will be a complete shutdown on February 13 and 19 and March 4. In the vehicle sector, there will be a strike in the afternoon shift from February 13 to March 28. In general, no one should spend more than 16 working days in the ERTE, not exceeding 500 people/day, reminds the union.
According to UGT-PV, the economic conditions will be “exactly the same” as in previous ERTE, that is: 80% of the real salary in addition to 100% of extra pay, special bonuses, vacations, and seniority. This issue has not had the approval of STM-Intersindical Valenciana, the other union with representation on the committee, since they defend that it maintains a loss of 20% of the salary which, they believe, with the economic conditions of the Electrification Agreement already it has been given. “The purchasing power is already more than enough without having to continue suffering more economic loss,” explains the other union.
For their part, UGT-PV assures that the company’s management considers its exposed conditions regarding the dates and number of people affected daily. “As we stated previously, the surplus can only be linked to a specific problem due to lack of planned production and not to excess personnel,” they defend. And they insist that they were only willing to accept the date of March 28 as the last day. “What may happen next will depend on the meeting that UGT holds with Ford’s leadership worldwide.”
The company will participate tomorrow in the eMobility World Congress fair held at Feria València for the second time and where they will explain, among others, Ford BlueCruise technology and where they will have their own stand.