2023-05-08 15:11:31
The second strike called for today at the Asturian plants of the ArcelorMittal steel company by the Avilés, Gijón and mineral park committees is again having a general follow-up in all production facilities, except among workers assigned to minimum services, as well as which occurred on Friday, according to union sources.
According to these testimonies, practically all the workshops are paralyzed, except for the B blast furnace (the A is damaged), the sinter, the Avilés steelworks and the coke batteries, where the minimum services operate.
The strike, which began at two in the afternoon, will last until four, as a measure of pressure to force an understanding on the company’s framework agreement for the period 2022-2025, which is state-wide and which in Asturias affects 4,900 workers.
Yesterday the company called by surprise the labor representatives to a new meeting this afternoon in Etxebarri (Basque Country), which will begin at four in the afternoon, just when the strike at the Asturian facilities ends.
In the last negotiating meeting, held on Thursday, and which the parties had promised would be the last, there was a closing of positions, but the unions continued to consider the business proposal insufficient, which, among other aspects, includes the commitment to guarantee the purchasing power of workers during the period of validity through wage increases equivalent to inflation. However, the departure of workers born up to 1962 and the firm commitment to the announced investments in decarbonization, which are now two of the main disagreements, are not clearly cleared up.
Although it had been announced that the meeting on Thursday was the last attempt to reach an agreement, and that consensus was not reached, neither the company nor the unions considered the dialogue broken.
The summons issued yesterday, Sunday, by the company to resume the dialogue has annoyed some worker representatives, in the case of CC OO, not because of the reopening of the dialogue but because they understand that its wording can be interpreted as an “ultimatum”. The call says that this afternoon’s session is intended to “find out the response to the final approach presented at the last meeting by the company’s management.”
The Asturias committees have called new strikes for this month, of increasing duration, until reaching eight hours per day. The next strike is approved for the day after tomorrow, Wednesday, and will be repeated on the 12th, 15th, 17th, 22nd, 23rd and 25th if there is no agreement beforehand.
Previously there were several 24-hour and two-hour strikes per shift that were called alone in April by CC OO.
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