The instability in the supply of semiconductors and derived components continues and, like a domino effect, Ford Almussafes once again changes its planning. Already being a constant almost since the pandemic, the management of the Valencian plant has once again rescheduled its ERTE calendar this Wednesday afternoon and has decided that next week it will stop engine production.
This means that, for example, the ERTE applied next Monday, December 12, is transferred to Thursday, December 9, while on December 19 and 20 there will also be ERTE for engine operations. Meanwhile, in mechanized, the unions detail that the ERTE scheduled for December 10 and 11 is cancelled, as stated by the monitoring commission for this procedure at the Valencian plant.
The tension in global supply chains continues to greatly affect the Valencian automobile plant, which means that its workforce is still pending continuous changes in the schedule of stops due to production needs.
The last change in the calendar was a week ago and it was the penultimate in a series of modifications that the UGT-PV observe "with concern". The union, the majority in the works council, assured that the situation, "far from improving, seems to worsen over time and it is impossible to glimpse its end."
Added to the tensions is the increase in costs. More than half of the Spanish automotive suppliers, as well as a considerable number of automotive manufacturers, confirm that they have experienced a rise in costs of up to 40% and at least an increase of over 11%, according to a survey conducted with 750 companies that bring together the entire value chain of the national automotive sector.
In this context, the president of the Automotive and Mobility Cluster of the Valencia Community (AVIA), Mónica Alegre, sued car manufacturers -and the main recipients of supplier production- "to allow a transfer of costs so that the auxiliary companies maintain their profit margins and avoid their disappearance”. "Otherwise, she - warns - many of them will be below the profitability threshold and will have to dissolve with the consequent loss of jobs."
