The meeting between Urkullu and the Mercedes management begins to try to secure the multimillion-dollar investment

Euskaraz irakurri: Abian da Urkullu eta Mercedeseko zuzendaritzaren arteko bilera, 1,200 milioiko inbertsioa lotzen saiatzeko

One day after the management of the plant mercedes-benz victoria and the unions have resumed negotiations after three days of strike, the lehendakari, Inigo Urkullumeets today with the top managers of this automobile company in Stuttgart, Germany.

In his appearance yesterday, the spokesman for the Basque Government, Bingen Zupiria, separated the visit from the labor conflict, and assured that the trip has been closed since March 1, so “it has nothing to do with the labor conflict.” The meeting, according to him, is part of the permanent relationship that the Gasteiz Executive maintains with Mercedes Benz and with its projects to “ensure its continuity in Vitoria and offer the territory as an opportunity for new investments”. Thus, the Lehendakari will convey to the directors of Mercedes Benz that the Basque Country is an “attractive environment” so that they carry out the investment of 1,200 million announced for the plant that the multinational has in Vitoria.

Zupiria stressed that the industrial fabric of the autonomous community has a large number of automotive component manufacturing companies and “significant” public and private investment in innovation and research, which means “adequate conditions to attract a investment like the one proposed by Mercedes”.

For her part, interviewed on Radio Euskadi, Arantxa Tapia, Minister of Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment of the Basque Government, yesterday asked Mercedes Vitoria and the unions to give in “to bring positions closer together that lead to an agreement”. “We understand the complexity, but both parties have to give in to approach positions that lead to an agreement,” she said.

split in committee

Company and committee of Mercedes Benz Vitoria resumed yesterday the conversations on the collective agreement that has been pending negotiation for half a year. The management put on the table an offer, with a series of economic improvements and flexibility to renew working conditions until 2026, which was received unevenly by the unions that during the negotiating process of recent months have acted in two separate blocks. . Thus, after the meeting, the majority of the works committee of Mercedes de Vitoria, UGT, CCOO, PIM and Ekintza, decided to “postpone” this Wednesday’s strike to continue negotiating with the company, while ELA, LAB and ESK maintain this strike and also those of Thursday and Friday, which they had called without the support of the rest of the centrals.

Among others, the company offered a salary increase of 5% in 2022 and a fifteenth payment of 750 euros, although it maintains the sixth night of the week in its flexibility proposal.

The works council and management will meet again tomorrow.