The North American multinational Lear Corporation plant, a supplier of automotive components, in Valença, went into a “layoff” last Tuesday due to a shortage of “chips.” The Federation and the Administration will meet again next Monday.
According to the Federation of Mineral and Related Industries (SIMA), “layoffs” cover about 400 workers and have a six-month forecast, such as Go ahead a Radio Valley Do Minho.
The company, through its Director of Human Resources, Cristina Freitas, told O MINHO that “there are no 400”, but refuses to disclose the number of workers affected by the “layoff”, only confirming that this “does not apply to 100%”.
Regarding the duration of the layoff, the company says there are no expectations, “analyzed from week to week according to the client’s requests.”
“ Layoffs is a matter of reducing working hours and will always get in line with our customers, which it mostly is [Grupo] PSA. “According to their news, we will move on,” said Cristina Freitas.
In response to a question from O MINHO, the Human Resources Manager did not want to specify the amount of the aforementioned reduction in hours, and send further clarifications by email. MINHO has questioned the company again via email, but has yet to receive any response.
Christina Freitas asserts that the “layoff” is due to “the worldwide crisis of chips and raw materials”. “We are suffering the consequences,” he asserts.
‘Significant loss of salary’
Speaking to O MINHO, SIMA Secretary General José Antonio Simoes said that a new meeting with the company is scheduled for Monday. “They will want to submit a new proposal, which we do not know yet,” the union leader points out, adding that “layoffs” translates into “a great loss in workers’ profits.”
North American multinational automotive components have been installed at Valença since 2009. In 2018 New facilities opened, with an investment of more than 5 million euros, which, according to the news at the time, meant a “significant” increase in jobs..
Recently, too, as reported by the Ministry of Health, Bosch has also been decommissioned in Prague due to scarcity of semiconductors.
