Automakers Seat and Nissan prepare to resume production

Catalan automaker Seat intends to resume vehicle production on Monday, although unions say that over 9,300 of 11,000 employees will be immediately subject to a new temporary redundancy scheme allowing the firm to temporarily lay-off workers during the health crisis.

Unions say that Monday will see the start of a second temporary redundancy period for 88% of the workforce in Seat's Martorell plant, with a second phase seeing the return of 40% of staff, and then a third phase with 3,500 employees, or 33% of staff, still off work.

Nissan unions call strike

The other large automaker in Catalonia, Japanese firm Nissan, says it will resume production at its plant in Barcelona's Zona Franca industrial estate on May 4, although there is still no return date for its plant in Montcada i Reixac, near the Catalan capital.

On Wednesday, however, Nissan unions in both plants called an indefinite strike "until the immediate future of factories is clarified."

Following a meeting between workers and management all unions - CCOO, UGT, USOC and CGT - called on workers not to go to work on May 4.

Nissan's factories have been losing production volume year after year and the company has been studying the viability of its facilities since the beginning of the year.