Seat starts the course with an ERTE due to the lack of semiconductors

BarcelonaThe shortage of semiconductors is once again taking its toll on the automotive industry. After Stellantis in Vigo and Zaragoza and Volkswagen in Navarre announced production stoppages, it is now the turn of Seat, which begins the course with a new temporary employment regulation file (ERTO) that will affect a minimum of 850 employees , as agreed by the management and the unions this Friday.

The forecast is that there will be a shortage of semiconductors to maintain current production levels, so it has been decided to eliminate the night shift on line 2 of the plant. In this line, the only one that until now worked in three shifts, the company’s two most successful models are assembled: the León and the Cupra Formentor. The pact foresees extending the ERTE, if the situation does not change, until the end of the year. Abolishing this shift means ceasing to manufacture 320 cars a day, but in terms of number of units the impact will not be as high, because in line 3, where the Audi A1 is produced, it will go from a single current shift to a turn and a half

In addition to the elimination of this shift, which affects 850 employees, it has been agreed to take other measures, if necessary, at a later date. Thus, production days could be canceled on any of the three lines depending on the availability of the components. As usual at Seat, the ERTE will be applied voluntarily first, so that the workers who are interested can sign up.

As reported by the UGT and CCOO unions, in addition to the elimination of the night shift on line 2, the additional days of production that were planned for this month of September have been eliminated – on Saturdays 17 and 24 respectively morning for lines 1 and 2, and on Sundays the 18th and 25th in the night shift for line 2–, but the schedule planned for October remains.

Criticism of Volkswagen

In a statement, the unions have stated that they are aware of the difficulties in the sector as a result of the various crises, such as the war in Ukraine, but they have not spared criticism of the Volkswagen group for the management of this situation. “One thing is the context and the other is the management of the crisis”, explain the trade unions, who assure that they have transferred to the management “the criticism for the rather poor management of the crisis that the Volkswagen group is doing” and they add: “A situation that with the change of CEO of the group, which took place at the end of July, we hope it will improve”.