The trickle of employment regulation files (ERE) in the industry does not stop with the announcement made last week by Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning to cut 140 employees of the 560 who work in its Vacarisses factory (Barcelona), as reported yesterday UGT de Catalunya in a statement.
The company is specialized in cooling systems through aerothermal technology. Union sources explained that the company justified the layoffs due to the reduction in demand in Europe and the fact that there is surplus capacity. The cut at Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning joins that of other industrial companies such as Danone in Parets del Vallès, Roca in Gavà or Holaluz.
The management communicated the decision last Thursday but the staff did not inform it until yesterday. According to UGT “the company has presented considerable profits in recent years.” The union believes that “the current situation is only due to poor management management.” UGT is part of the works committee together with CC.OO. and the CGT, which is the majority union.
Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning is a joint venture between the American company Johnson Controls (60%) and the Japanese Hitachi (40%). Until almost a decade ago, Hitachi was the sole owner of the factory, according to union sources. On Thursday, February 15, a meeting will take place between the company management and the committee, and on Friday, the 16th, a mediation meeting with the Generalitat.
The UGT added in the statement that the company applied a temporary employment regulation file (ERTE) between October and January 31, preceded by “massive hiring through ETT” in January 2023 and requesting “flexibility” from the staff in the face of the poor performance of the business.
The Vacarisses factory is in charge of the entire production process of air conditioning machines that Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning sells mainly in France, according to UGT.
Without knowing the December figure, in the first 11 months of 2023, while employment grew in Catalonia, layoffs due to ERE skyrocketed by 29%, to 5,936. Last year, the highest number of workers affected by a collective dismissal was in information technology sectors, where the adjustments in the subcontractors of Facebook, Glovo, Wallbox and Tripadvisor stand out.
