Having announced in late May that it would be closing its operations in Catalonia after 40 years of activity, Nissan reached a deal this week with its workers to postpone the closure of its car manufacturing plants until December 2021, a year later than originally planned.
The agreement follows many weeks of protests and 25 hours of non-stop negotiations during the week.
Nissan began its activity in Catalonia in 1980, and has five hubs in the region: the main factory in Barcelona’s Zona Franca industrial area, two more factories in Sant Andreu de la Barca and Montcada i Reixac, an auto parts centre in El Prat de Llobregat, as well as a distribution centre in the Port of Barcelona.
Workers officially ratified the agreement in a mass assembly on Thursday, hours after both parties reached a deal the night before.
While the closure of the Japanese company’s plants will leave 2,525 employees jobless (and affect thousands indirectly), unions believe that the conditions of the final settlement are better than originally expected.
The company has stated that the agreement is ‘the best decision for all parts, because it gives more time to seek alternative projects to re-industrialise the area’.
Se ratifica el preacuerdo por unanimidad.
— CCOO Nissan (@ccoonissan) August 6, 2020
Un preacuerdo que nos ha costado mucho conseguir y que ha sido gracias al ejemplo de lucha y solidaridad mostrado por tod@s los trabajador@s de #Nissan#FuturoParaNissanYA pic.twitter.com/bOWdmOnHHo