Pamplona (EFE).- The more than 5,000 workers of the Volkswagen Navarra factory are called to participate on February 16 in union elections in which a new company committee will be elected, which for the next four years will have to face important challenges such as the electrification of the plant.
The growth of the Volkswagen Navarra workforce in recent years has meant that the works council will go from the current 29 delegates to 31 on this occasion.
In 2019, UGT was the union with the most votes with 12 delegates, followed by CCOO with 8, ELA with three, the same as LAB, by 2 from CGT and 1 from CCP.
The committee that is elected in these elections will have a difficult job ahead of it due to the uncertain situation in the automotive sector due to problems in the supply of semiconductors, the war in Ukraine or the necessary electrification of vehicles.
Production stoppages since December 2020
The automobile group had to interrupt production in December 2020 of the VW, Skoda, Seat and Audi brands, which share the modular platform, due to a lack of semiconductors. The problems have continued since then and the factory in Pamplona has had to stop production on several occasions or remove incomplete cars from the lines, which has caused saturation situations in the storage fields.
In addition, the company has been extending the ERTE (the last time, until next July), to deal with the lack of parts. The conditions of the file are the same as on previous occasions.
The production of electric vehicles is the great challenge that the Pamplona factory must face immediately. The Landaben plant participates in the “Future: Fast Forward” business project, led by Volkswagen and Seat to develop the electrification of the multinational’s plants in Spain.
Almost 400 million of the PERTE of the electric vehicle
The company accepted the 397.4 million euros offered in the PERTE of the Electric and Connected Vehicle (VEC) for this project, which involves the electrification of the Seat factories in Martorell and Volkswagen in Pamplona, which intend to manufacture 800,000 electric cars per year. year from 2025.
The new works committee that is elected on February 16 will also be in charge of negotiating the next collective agreement for the factory and reaching agreements on aspects such as wages, working hours, workloads, absenteeism or permanent contracts, among others.
The rejuvenation of the Volkswagen Navarra workforce will also be one of the priority issues to be dealt with by this new works council.
The Landaben factory staff has an average age of 47 years, with 998 people between 40 and 49 years, 2,186 between 50 and 59, and 210 over 60. In total, there are 2,400 people over 50 years.
The UGT, CCOO, ELA, LAB and CGT candidates for the union elections at Volkswagen Navarra on February 16 are committed to an electrification of the plant that does not imply a reduction in working conditions and for a rejuvenation of the workforce through measures like the relief contract.
The members of the works council who are elected in these elections will have to negotiate key issues for the future of the plant such as electrification, the tenth collective agreement and the rejuvenation of the workforce, issues that the candidates have analyzed in statements to EFE.
Morales (UGT): A “Pact for the Future” included in an agreement
Alfredo Morales, head of the UGT list and current president of the works council, has affirmed that the challenge in relation to the electric car is “to reach the year 2026 with guarantees”, which means “having agreed with the management the Pact for the Future , which contains a social project linked to an industrial project».
The industrial plan “it is true that we already have a part of it”, he pointed out, but it is necessary to know the associated investments and the production volumes that guarantee employment in the plant and the supplier park, as well as the decision on the factory assembly of battery cells, that “we need to have it between us and with Volkswagen personnel.”
Morales has stressed that these aspects are going to be precisely “one of the most important parts of the negotiation” of the collective agreement, in which the Pact for the Future must be “embedded”, along with issues such as the maintenance of the purchasing power of the workers.
In relation to a workforce of which half is over 50 years of age, he has indicated that the UGT does not speak so much of “rejuvenation”, but of “renewal” and for this “the fundamental tool is the contract-relay”.
Zalduendo (CCOO): “We want to negotiate autonomously”
For Carlos Zalduendo, CCOO candidate, the priority is for management to “bet firmly” on the Volkswagen Navarra plant and ensure that “we have the ability to negotiate autonomously, to have high volumes of production of electric models, manufacturing them in Pamplona , achieving stability in the medium and long term and employment for both the factory and the supplier park”.
In addition, he stressed, the CCOO has as “clear objectives” in the negotiation of the agreement to achieve salary increases linked to the CPI, reduction of workloads, improvement of ergonomics and modernization of the assembly workshop that is becoming “more outdated”.
Zalduendo has also shown the “strong commitment” of the CCOO to continue renewing the workforce through the relief contract and to negotiate a modality of departures where the company accompanies the worker with the contribution quotas until reaching retirement age, always guaranteeing the current volume of employment of the plant.
Peñalver (ELA): “That there is no surplus of labor”
ELA’s candidacy is headed by Igor Peñalver, who has assured that “the electric car seems to be the future” and, beyond the adaptation of production processes, his intention is that this change “does not generate a surplus of labor construction site”.
“We are one of the factories with the best numbers in the consortium and this has to be reflected in a high volume of production that consolidates and even increases jobs,” he stressed.
Facing the negotiation of the agreement, he commented that the main objective is the maintenance and improvement of working conditions and, “at this time of rising consumer prices, guaranteeing the purchasing power of the workforce.”
Peñalver has also advocated the relief contract for the rejuvenation of the workforce and the reduction of absenteeism, although the latter, he recalled, “comes from the saturation of the workloads”, which requires a distribution of the load between more workers.
Portillo (LAB): “No fear of electric vehicles”
Raúl Portillo, LAB candidate, has asserted that there is “no problem or fear of adapting to the electric vehicle”, that “it is one more technological change, the automotive industry is continually changing, innovating, we have always adapted and in this sense we will do the same”, although “we will need specific training, but nothing more”.
When negotiating the next agreement and given that “the multinational has seen fit to include us in a peninsular structure dependent on SEAT”, the union will request that “the basic category for the entire workforce be that of second-class officer, as in SEAT, and we will also request an older letter, the letter E, as in SEAT”. They will also request the transfer of common and professional contingencies to Osasunbidea and the maintenance of purchasing power.
LAB also bets on the relief contract (with the collection of 100% of the pension and indefinite contract for the reliever). For the elderly who cannot access the relief contract due to lack of years of contributions, mostly women and migrants, the union proposes a separation from the company until they reach their legal retirement age, thus ensuring that they do not suffer greater loss in your pension.
Añorbe (CGT) does not see “movement” to adapt the plant
The CGT candidate, Oscar Añorbe, has affirmed that, for the moment, in the factory “no movement is seen in the sense of adapting the facilities.”
The multinational, he added, “all it has done are declarations of intent. It has not clarified models, production volumes, or clear start dates, since they have requested a delay in the completion of producing combustion engines, which everything indicates that it will be granted, so the start of the electric one may be delayed. more than stated.”
For this reason, he stressed that at CGT “we see it as something too far away in time to have to negotiate a Future Pact for the plant, which we are clear will bring us, hand in hand with the UGT and CCOO, as signatories of the same, more flexibility, probably an increase in working hours and who knows if also salary containment ».
Regarding the agreement, CGT is going to propose a reduction in the working day to 30 hours a week, “which would generate employment and would mean a notable improvement in the health of the workforce”, as well as a “drastic” reduction in absenteeism. He also wants to talk about permanent and permanent employment to cover all structural positions.
To rejuvenate the workforce, he advocates leaving the factory at age 58 in charge of the multinational, either until accessing the manufacturing contract-relay if it is extended, or until reaching retirement age, always hiring another indefinite person for each one that leaves the factory