Talks between Nissan and workers break down without agreement

Talks between the management at the car manufacturing company Nissan and workers’ unions and representatives broke down without agreement on Friday night. 

The company gave its final offer to the unions with a deadline of next Tuesday to evaluate it. The proposal envisages postponing the closure of three of the factories (Zona Franca, Montcada i Reixac, and Sant Andreu de la Barca) until the end of 2021, an increase in compensation. The unions have rejected the proposal and threatened to take the dispute to court.

After several setbacks, Nissan announced around 10pm "the last" offer to try to resolve the dispute, for which talks had lasted days with mediation from the Catalan government.

After learning of the multinational's new approach, the unions made a counter-offer that the delegation led by Frank Torres has considered unacceptable, ending the consultation period.

Earlier this year, the Japanese carmaker announced that they would be closing their factories in Catalonia, meaning job losses for more than 2,500 people in the Barcelona area, plus affecting thousands more workers indirectly. 

"We do not accept this proposal, what we want is to negotiate, not to impose," Miguel Angel Boiza, a union delegate, said to the Catalan News Agency at the end of the meeting. 

"We still do not accept this process and we will challenge it. We have always said that [the closure] started in a totally fraudulent way and we are convinced that we can win the trial even though it was our last option and we still think that it’s better than accepting this agreement,” he said. Workers are confident administrations will urge Nissan to listen to the demands of the workforce over the weekend.