Mercedes-Benz is living this Monday one of the most complicated moments in its industrial history, which began 68 years ago in Vitoria. The 5,000 factory workers will be called to a referendum with only two options. “Agreement yes” or “Agreement no” in relation to the rare agreement of the union majority with the management of the Alava factory to activate a new collective agreement valid for the period 2021-2026.
The result depends on a simple majority. Emilio Titos, director of the center, said the “no” option would mean “the beginning of the end” for the facilities in Alava. They demand a collective agreement from the headquarters of the multinational Daimler in Stuttgart (Germany) to launch investments of 1,200 million that will increase the capacity of the center and go through its modernization for future electric mobility. The plan is the fire of the VAN platform. EA (electric van unit).
The package of measures which includes the preliminary agreement supported by the union majority UGT, CCOO, Ekintza and PIM, who are a total of seventeen delegates to the works council, did not satisfy the ELA, LAB and ESK factories with fourteen representatives. In fact, despite the prior agreement, the strikes continued. Nine days of unemployment until Monday, when 6,300 vehicles are no longer manufactured. Voting is carried out both in person at the 22 tables distributed throughout the facilities and by telematics for employees who cannot come to the center due to illness or leisure.
As the factory works in three shifts, it is necessary to wait until Tuesday morning to know the results after the vote of the workers of the confusion team, who have until 2:15 am Tuesday to vote. ELA, LAB and ESK called three more strikes this week, which would end automatically if the majority of the workforce supported the aforementioned agreement. Meanwhile, tension is mounting between those in favor and those opposed to the proposed deal. Y el Gobierno sigue con preocupación el conflicto profesional que afecta a la maduro industria del País Vasco, que emplea a 600 local proveedores y está creando más de 30.000 puestos de trabajo indirectos, todo ello en un día en el que Álava marcará las temperaturas más altas from Spain.