The government is working on various solutions to minimize the impact of the nine-week production interruption at Autoeuropa on employees and suppliers, Secretary of State for Labor Miguel Fontes announced on Monday.
“We have already planned a series of initiatives to respond to different situations, whether by mobilizing professional training tools, which workers can use through companies while this strike takes place, or by facilitating social benefits to which they may be entitled . that they can be processed in the most flexible way”Miguel Fontes told the agency Lusa.
“The government is closely monitoring the situation and tomorrow (Tuesday) we will receive the Coordination Committee of the Workers’ Committees of the Companies of the Autoeuropa Industrial Park, at a meeting attended by the Minister of Labour, myself and also the Minister of Foreign Affairs Affairs. for Economy”he added.
Miguel Fontes also mentioned that the government has spoken to those responsible for Autoeuropa, but recalled that “the situation does not end only in Autoeuropa itself”.
“There is a whole group of companies that provide services to Autoeuropa. The aim is to know the situation of these companies, to what extent this closure affects them, and to try to find the plurality of situations necessary to try to minimize the consequences of this closure, especially in the areas of employment, which is the dimension that concerns us most.”he emphasized.
On the other hand, the Secretary of State for Labor added, “the government is also making efforts to ensure that companies have the necessary tools and support to navigate this phase more calmly, given an unplanned situation, but which has obviously had a major impact on the activity of these companies”.
Miguel Fontes also mentioned that the contacts with Autoeuropa are intended to understand the situation of all employees and companies affected by the production stoppage at Autoeuropa, which started this Monday and could last until November 12, according to Autoeuropa’s own estimates.
“We have reports of various situations. We have employees who belong to Autoeuropa, we have employees who work temporarily at Autoeuropa, we have employees who belong to companies based in Parque da Autoeuropa and whose only customer is Autoeuropa. And then we have the row of companies that have multiple customers, but some of which Autoeuropa represent a very significant part of their turnover. And each of these companies had different strategies.”the ruler reminded.
According to Miguel Fontes, in Autoeuropa’s supply chain, in addition to the 19 companies installed on the industrial estate, there are another 86 companies.
Autoeuropa had to halt production for nine weeks due to problems at a supplier in Slovenia, which was badly affected by the floods that hit that country in early August.
The production stop has already led to the dismissal of 300 temporary and fixed-term contract workers, 100 from the Volkswagen car factory and about 200 from various companies in the Autoeuropa industrial park, in Palmela, Setúbal district.
Source: DN
