Spanish Acerinox considers shutting down plants due to strikes

A fire broke out at an enterprise in Los Barrios due to deliberate arson

Spanish stainless steelmaker Acerinox is considering a temporary shutdown of its plants due to ongoing labor strikes. This is reported by Kallanish with reference to the company’s data.

This week, a fire broke out at the plant in Los Barrios, Cádiz. The company notes that the arson was intentional. The incident occurred in the company’s paper warehouse, but firefighters immediately extinguished the fire, preventing serious consequences. The incident occurred at the same time as the entrance to the unit was blocked, preventing the minimum tasks of the morning shift from being completed.

The company’s employees are protesting over a disagreement over a proposed new collective bargaining agreement. On February 5, the employees went on an indefinite strike. During the day, thousands of workers blocked the national highway A-7 between Algeciras and Malaga for almost 6 hours.

«We have filed a complaint against the strike committee for obstructing the provision of minimum services at the plant, sabotage and threatening to damage facilities. We are rethinking the model of the mediation process with employees. Acts of violence and non-compliance with minimum service agreements exceed the limits of acceptable pressure when exercising the right to strike. The company is considering suspending its operations,» Acerinox said.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, Acerinox achieved a record EBITDA of €703 million, with revenue of €6.6 billion and net profit of €228 million. The company achieved good results thanks to improvements in recent years and the strategic success of entering the high-performance alloys sector.