From calls for calm to closing ranks for the continuity of the Seat brand. That has been the movement that, after the weekend, the Catalan employers’ associations in the sector and the unions have carried out. In a joint statement, UGT and CC OO appealed this Monday to build “a common front” in defense of the historic automotive brand, whose survival from 2030 was left in the air with the restructuring plans presented by the parent group Volkswagen last Friday. The metallurgical and motor sector employers’ associations of Catalonia have agreed on that message and have warned of the impact its disappearance could have in terms of employment. Both the central government and the Generalitat have stated that they are working to maintain the company, which currently employs 13,000 people in Martorell (Barcelona).
Read more Volkswagen agrees to sell its Osnabrück factory and allocate it to produce defense material
The Catalan business community had resisted publicly verbalizing their nervousness after the German consortium’s cutback plans were leaked last Thursday, which may include the end of the Seat brand. The company not only has importance in direct jobs, but it is a strategic company for the Catalan economy on which dozens of auxiliary companies depend. Especially when other companies in the motor sector have been closing workplaces in Catalonia during recent crises. On that blacklist are Nissan, Derbi, Pirelli, or Yamaha, among others. Therefore, the initial caution of employers and unions has turned this Monday into a much stronger message.
The metallurgical employers’ association UPM, the organization that groups automotive distributors Fecavem, and the Motor Guild have asked Volkswagen to reconsider the “idea” of ending Seat, since that brand has always “contributed.” The entities have signed the statement released this Sunday by the employers’ association Foment del Treball, which advocated maintaining the brand but reminded that the brand is not the same as the Martorell factory, where more models are worked on, including the Cupra models that have ended up overshadowing the historic Catalan brand. The motor employers’ associations have warned of the consequences that wiping out the brand would imply “in labor terms, for its workers and their families.” “The brand put Spain on wheels with the 600. Its disappearance not only affects the brand itself and the industry but also its consumer market and all the auxiliary industry that the Martorell factory provides,” warned the president of UPM, Jaume Roura.
The UGT union had also called for patience and reminded that the Barcelona factory is not limited to Seat. “Martorell could benefit from plant closures in Germany,” said the chairman of the works council, Matías Carnero, in an interview on Cadena SER. This Monday, however, the two unions have pointed out that eliminating the brand would be “a risk for employment.” “We do not understand what eliminating the Seat brand contributes to improving the competitiveness of the Volkswagen group, because with it that brand is lost from the start, whose role none of the current group brands can occupy, which will affect sales,” they warned. In addition, the organizations have recalled that it is “very difficult, if not impossible,” “for each model that Seat eliminates to be replaced by one from the Cupra brand.” At a breakfast at the Ateneo de Madrid, the general secretary of CC OO, Unai Sordo, emphasized that the disappearance of Seat “would not be harmless” for employment.
Employers and unions have invited public administrations to build a common front to save the brand. And these have stated that they are working on it. The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has defended the continuity of the brand in an interview with Catalunya Ràdio and has committed to doing “everything possible” to maintain jobs, for which he is in contact with the management and the works council of the company. Illa has recalled that the Generalitat has had a “relevant role” in ensuring that the group has received Next Generation EU funds and has reminded that the “first fully designed and manufactured electric car in Europe” is being produced in Martorell. The first vice president of the Government and Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo – who has stated that his current vehicle is a Seat — has also highlighted the importance of a “traditionally Spanish” brand and has maintained that he will make “all necessary efforts” to prevent its disappearance.
