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28 April 2004
BARCELONA – Car giant Seat has done a U-turn and decided not to make 415 workers redundant, union sources said Wednesday.
Under two weeks ago, the Spanish car firm based in Catalonia, in north-east Spain, announced it would make large-scale redundancies.
The U-turn has prompted hopes that talks can resume between the company and unions over working hours which had provoked one 24-hour strike.
Seat changed its mind after “substantial advances” in talks between the two sides in the past week.
Matías Carnero, union shop steward at the car firm’s plant in Martorell, near Barcelona, said: “After these advances, we hope that we can close talks this week.”
The company had been pushing for greater flexibility in hours in the production of two new car models.
Seat, which is owned by Volkswagen, is one of Catalonia’s major employers.
The company had informed the regional Catalonian government about its original decision to sack the workers.
The regional government had been involved in ensuring jobs stayed in the region.
[Copyright EFE with Expatica]
Subject: Spanish news