Ford Almussafes will work starting this Monday at half its capacity, with a single shift at the vehicle assembly plant, in application of the new ERTE approved by the cessation of manufacturing of the Transit, the shortage of engine parts and a lower requirement for the North American market.
In the first part of the ERTE, the vehicle workers at the Valencian factory will only attend the morning shift, which means around 1,400 employees will be affected, to which another 600 will be added when it coincides with the stoppage of the engine plant, according to UGT has reported.
There will be no activity at the engine plant for ten days, which will be on May 20, 21, 22, 27 and 28, and June 3, 10, 11, 17 and 18.
It is expected that during the last four weeks of the ERTE it will be possible to work in two shifts in vehicle assembly, according to the forecasts of UGT, the majority union at the Valencian plant, which agreed on the file with the factory management this Wednesday.
The new ERTE, whose validity runs from April 20 to June 20 – although in practice it begins this Monday – and with different causes than the previous one, will affect a limit of 2,300 workers, although it is estimated that no day will be reached. that maximum figure and the number of affected people will remain between 1,400 and 2,000, with a maximum that will be reached with the absence of engine activity.
In this situation, the peak production of the Kuga scheduled for Monday the 22nd is postponed for a month since the assembly plant will only work in the morning shift; If pieces arrive, variations may occur.
The company has justified the new ERTE by the end this week of the production of the Transit van – the Valencian plant is left with only one model, the Kuga, until the future arrival of a new multi-energy passenger vehicle is realized -, and due to supply problems for the manufacture of engines.
The new ERTE begins the day after the end of the one that has been applied since February 13 and which concluded on April 19 after being extended and affecting between 500 and 700 employees per day.
The working conditions are the same as in the previous ones: 80% of the salary plus 100% seniority, extra pay and vacations.
STM, the other union represented at the Ford plant, demands an increase in the salary supplement to cover one hundred percent of the unemployment benefit, and greater advance notice to the workforce when there is a change in dates.
The factory is waiting for Ford’s European management to specify the details of the multi-energy passenger vehicle that it will manufacture in Valencia and, according to UGT, “the countdown” now begins to clear up those unknowns over a period that is estimated to be two months. and in which the union will continue to hold meetings with the European works council, and the European and local management
