The CCOO union has stated this Monday that ArcelorMittal continues to fail to provide it with sufficient information to accurately analyze the scope of the Zenith function relocation project, although the company has conveyed that its intention is for it to be fully implemented by the end of this year.
This is how they have stated it after the meeting held today between the multinational and the company's social representation to specifically address this plan.
According to CCOO, as explained in a press release, the Management has not yet provided disaggregated data on the impact by work centers or by functions, nor has it specified implementation schedules or accompanying social measures.
The union has indicated that, for now, the company has only stated that the project will be carried out through internal relocations or reassignments, with the intention of avoiding traumatic measures and studying the option of linking the management of surpluses to the departure of older personnel.
For CCOO, this lack of detail prevents a rigorous understanding of the project's real consequences and limits the workforce's ability to defend itself. To this, they have added several aspects they have described as "worrying".
Specifically, they have specified that the affected areas would be Purchasing, Finance, IT (Information Technology), Human Resources, and Supply Chain, which would mean the elimination of just over 50 positions in total, close to 19% of the combined staff of these departments.
CCOO has also warned that a relevant impact on the employment of personnel from auxiliary IT (Information Technology) companies is foreseen, although it is not yet possible to determine exactly how many positions will be affected in each center.
In any case, the union takes for granted that there is a "real" risk of job destruction and denounces that the company is outsourcing key functions, "weakening local capabilities," while criticizing that management has not yet presented concrete social protection plans.
From the union representation, the implementation of a general and homogeneous procedure for all plants has been requested, which clearly establishes all possible alternatives to apply during the process.
Likewise, they demand guarantees for job protection, training actions, redeployment, and skills maintenance at each workplace. In parallel, they have explained that they are coordinating their actions on a European scale through the European Works Council (EWC) to articulate a "united and firm" response.
Finally, the Inter-company Union Section of CCOO at ArcelorMittal has reiterated its "strongest rejection of this relocation process, lacking the slightest operational or economic justification, beyond the mere savings represented by the transfer of functions that are transcendental for the development of our activity to a country where the most basic salary and labor conditions are conspicuous by their absence," they have emphasized.