Bad news for the Aragonese industry. The historic auxiliary automotive company Airtex, founded in Zaragoza in the 1930s, has presented an employment regulation file (ERE) for 120 of the 153 workers it has in the Aragonese capital, where its European headquarters is located. In the absence of official confirmation, everything indicates that their intention is to transfer the production of water pumps, fuel pumps and distribution kits to another country, probably to Romania.
Located in the Plaza industrial park (Zaragoza Logistics Platform), the company informed the staff yesterday Thursday of the start of the file, from which only the commercial apparatus, with about 30 employees, is saved.
Apparently, the company justifies its decision by the drop in margins due to inflation, the difficulties derived from the war in Ukraine or the end of the manufacture of vehicles with internal combustion engines starting in 2035, among other reasons. For the unions, who have shown their “surprise” at news they did not expect, these are arguments “without much consistency” given the company's situation.
“This decision by the multinational is not based on economic reasons, because the company's financial situation is not at risk and they are solvent. The reasons are organizational and productive. There is business," Ana Sánchez, delegate of the general secretariat of CC. OO. Industry in Aragon, stated by telephone.
In January 2019, the American group Trico acquired Airtex in a multiparty transaction. Last year, the company increased its profits by 20% after billing 61 million euros and has participated in the negotiation of the metal agreement of the province of Zaragoza, recently ratified with notable salary increases. It has also been a recipient of public funds from the Government of Aragon and some business organizations.
The news has fallen like a bucket of cold water among businessmen in the community. In the regional press, Benito Tesier, president of the Automotive Cluster in Aragon and the Federation of Metal Entrepreneurs of Zaragoza (FEMZ), has expressed his astonishment upon hearing the news, especially given the "good management of the company, its order book and its good results.”
Both unions and employers have asked the Government of Aragon to intervene to prevent the production of these components from moving abroad and all those jobs being lost. “They have to get involved to ensure that the trend to recover industrial GDP remains positive, and so that the industrial fabric is nourished by companies like this, which invest in innovation and the development of their products and their work processes,” he emphasizes. Sanchez.
The first meeting of the ERE is scheduled for next Friday, November 17, in which the company will present all the documentation. For its part, CC. OO. will propose holding an information meeting to show its support to the entire workforce and request the withdrawal of the regulation file, while the employers' association indicates that they are going to pitch in to try to redirect the situation.
