On November 21, Renault presented its industrial plan detailing its project to enhance activities in the Iberian peninsula. The carmaker plans to have a new model made at the Valladolid and Palencia sites. A major workload will also be sent to the Valladolid engine factory and the gear box factory in Seville. The plan was made possible by the flexibility agreement and the pay effort agreed to by the two key union confederations, UGT and Workers' Commissions (CCOO). 1,300 jobs should be created (around 3,600 in auxiliary industries) and promises 10 years of work for the country's plants. Renault is far from being the only carmaker to bank on Spain. Last month, Ford announced that it was transferring production from Genk, Belgium to Almussafes (near Valencia). PSA Peugeot Citroën invested in its Galician facilities (Vigo) rather than in historical stronghold - Aulnay-sous-Bois, near Paris. General Motors is banking on its Figueruelas site near Saragossa, its most competitive in Europe. Fiat once again invested in Iveco, its truck manufacturer, in Madrid, and Nissan is going to make its new electric minivan in Barcelona. Two union leaders are explaining the trade unions' strategy in the auto industry: Manuel Garcia Salgado, in charge of automotion for UGT, and Luis Fernando de Luis, in charge of the sectoral policy at the CCOO's manufacturing federation. (Ref. 120693)
The auto industry – which accounts for 300,000 direct and indirect jobs now – accounts for 10-12 percent of Spanish GDP and 20 percent of the country’s exports. On the own admission of the head of the government, Mariano Rajoy, it is one of the rare economic fields which has brought good news to the country in the past 12 months, even though unions remind that 120,000 jobs have been cut since 2008, mostly in auxiliary industries, because of the drop in production volumes.
- How do you assess the agreement signed with Renault (see our dispatch No. 120660)?
Manuel Garcia Salgado, UGT. The negotiations were hard. We didn’t want to get in line with the plants in Turkey or Tangiers like the management said.
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