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15 January 2004
BARCELONA – Samsung, the electronics multinational, is to close its Spanish factory and move its production to Slovakia affecting 446 jobs, the company said Thursday.
The closure comes less than a week alter Philips announced the closure of its plant near Barcelona with the loss of 100 jobs.
Samsung said it was changing the structure of its European production and will move its plants in Spain and the UK to other factories which the company has in Slovakia.
Unions have expressed doubts over Samsung’s promise to relocate its 446 workers from the plant near Barcelona.
The company said Slovakia will be its new European base.
Sang Heung Shin, Samsung’s European president, said Thursday the company was concerned about the effect the restructuring will have for employees at the Spanish plant.
He said that before the decision was made to close the Spanish the company had studied all the alternatives but there was “nothing else which could guarantee the competitive future of the company”.
Samsung justified its decision by saying in the electronic consumer goods sector, the giddy rise in technological development had cut short the commercial life of some products and caused a fall in prices.
According to Samsung, this situation demanded a large investment, which required reducing the number of factories and the costs of production, components and other associated goods.
In Spain, the factory at Palau de Plegamans was dedicated to making audiovisual equipment destined for the export market. The factory currently employs 446 workers.
The production of mobile phone parts, which is also carried out at the same plant, will be moved to another plant in China.
According to the company, the employees will not be affected by the changes and will be relocated.
Jesús Benga, president of the Association of Electronics and Telecommunications Industry, said the closure of Samsung and Philips’ plants in Spain in the past week showed companies in this sector were not competing.
He said they needed to adapt to changes in the industry and this would require flexibility from the workforce.
But Juan Partera, spokesman for General Union of Workers, one of Spain’s biggest unions, said Samsung’s decision to move to Slovakia will affect all the factories of this multi-national in Europe.
He said the union doubted Samsung’s promise to relocate the 446 workers.
[Copyright EFE with Expatica]
Subject: Spanish news