The rise of the electric car has put an expiration date on the Ford factory in Almussafes, Valencia. One of the major combustion car manufacturing centers for the American brand must be upgraded or die.
When Ford announced that in 2030 it would stop manufacturing cars equipped with a combustion engine, indirectly setting an expiration date on the Almussafes factory in its current configuration, a facility where 6,500 people work.
And it is that the Valencian installation is one of the main producers of thermal vehicles that Ford has in Europe, but it will need a significant investment to transform itself into a center capable of doing the same with the electric cars that will arrive.
In the first half of 2021, production was down 56% compared to 2019
The arrival of Stuart rowley The presidency of Ford in 2019 was accompanied by a plan to reduce the structure of the brand in Europe, also cutting 12,000 jobs and ceasing the production of such relevant models as the Mondeo, which is precisely manufactured in Almussafes.
Currently, Ford has several plants in Europe, but while those in Cologne (Germany), Craiova (Romania) and Kocaeli (Turkey) already have approved investment projects aimed at receiving electric cars, that of Almussafes and Saarlouis (Germany) have been left out for the moment.
A lot of uncertainty
The last negotiation of the ERTE He has already made it clear that Ford wants to reduce current conditions and the continuous cuts made during the pandemic period – and exacerbated by the microchip crisis – only sow doubts about the future of Almussafes.
In the first half of 2021, production fell 23% compared to the previous year and a 56% compared to 2019 and only the Ford Kuga is assured of production in Almussafes beyond 2023.
With this panorama, UGT, the majority union in the factory, has been open to negotiate with Ford in order to guarantee the transformation of the plant to receive electric models in the future.
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In the last meeting held this week, the company insisted on the need to undertake salary adjustments, reduce vacations and increase working hours. In short, gain competitiveness at the expense of employees. Or, in other words, survival in exchange for worse working conditions.
UGT has admitted to being willing to “Negotiate flexibility issues that may be used to solve these problems”, but the union denies that its proposal will include salary cuts, claiming even the unrealized rise in the CPI that was included in the previous agreement (7%).
In addition to consulting its affiliates to reinforce positions, UGT will meet with the Valencian generalitat together with the other three unions (STM, CCOO and CGT), which have been totally against accepting Ford’s claims.