The ERTE in Seat will last longer than expected, in view of the uncertainty that still affects the markets for raw materials and the supply of semiconductors. The management and the works council reached an agreement on Wednesday to extend the current employment regulation file for another six months, until June 30, instead of the three months that the company advanced a few days ago.
It is a measure similar to that applied by other companies in the sector, such as Ford in Almussafes, which has already reached an agreement with the unions, or Stellantis in Vigo, which has announced negotiations for next January.
With the file, Seat plans to continue carrying out partial production stoppages to adapt to supplies. It may affect a maximum of 10,310 workers and it is expected that some 480 will be out of work every day. Currently, the labor surplus is estimated at some 840 people, but it is hoped that it will be partly assumed with holidays.
"We hope that it is not necessary to apply the ERTE in its entirety, but there is a lot of uncertainty and that is why we have opted for a prudent position and extend the ERTE for six months," said Matías Carnero, president of the company committee and member of the supervisory board of the Volkswagen group.
The agreed conditions are the same as in the current ERTE. The company complements the unemployment benefits up to 93.3% of the salary and the file will not affect the extra payments or vacations of the workers.
The current ERTE entered into force on September 16 and was due to end on the 24th. It has allowed production to be reduced depending on the available parts and the Martorell plant has been paralyzed for several days.
The company announced at the beginning of December that it plans to end the year with a manufacturing volume of 366,000 vehicles in Martorell, almost 27% less than in 2019, the year before the pandemic. A fall that has been able to be compensated for the moment without traumatic cuts in the workforce thanks to the flexibility that measures such as ERTE allow. And the greater focus on Cupra sales has made it possible to improve income and also results.
Until September, the company chaired by Wayne Griffiths registered losses of 10 million euros, far from the 159 million lost in the same period last year. The company also qualifies that discounting the extraordinary provision to cover 1,300 casualties (retirements) until 2026, the operating result would already be positive, of 234 million until September. And the forecast is to close the year positively, according to Griffiths. In terms of income, in the first nine months they have increased by 7.7%, up to 7,820 million.
