BarcelonaThe majority unions of Seat, UGT and CCOO, have demanded the award to the Martorell factory of a second electric model, larger than what is already assigned, to ensure the future viability of the company and its two brands (Seat and Cupra). The Volkswagen Group has awarded Seat the manufacture of the electric car for the group’s small platform, which will be produced in Martorell under the Cupra, Volkswagen and Skoda brands.
Seat’s two main unions have moved this request to the company’s management at the seventh meeting of the collective bargaining table, which took place yesterday, given the uncertainty caused by the transition to the electric car and the lack of new vehicles assigned to the Seat brand. In fact, the company’s president, Wayne Griffiths, admitted in an interview that the transition to the electric car could create a surplus of 2,800 jobs, and Volkswagen Group chief executive Herbert Diess in another interview criticize the low production volume of the Catalan brand.
The award of this second vehicle is considered essential by the unions, as current plans to manufacture 500,000 electric cars from 2025 do not guarantee the maintenance of employment. The president of the company committee, Matías Carnero, in an interview with ARA, demanded for Martorell the manufacture of the electrical models that should replace the current León and Formentor.
In a joint statement, CCOO and UGT explained that at Thursday’s meeting they also raised the company’s need to find a new workload for the Prat de Llobregat plant, which has about 1,200 workers, and to agree work organization measures to reduce the surplus of jobs.
Among other measures, they have proposed voluntary relocations of workers to the battery cell factory that the Volkswagen group plans to build in Sagunto (Valencia) from 2024. The unions ask that these changes of location be made by guaranteeing the conditions wages of the Seat agreement and with the necessary compensations.