Spanish workers stage protest against Alcoa’s decision to close down two of its smelters

On November 8, around 10,000 Spanish workers reportedly marched in Aviles, Spain, protesting the US-based aluminium giant Alcoa’s proposal to close down two of its smelters. They even sought for the intervention of the government regarding the said matter but received a hostile response. According to the report, the shutdown of Alcoa’s two smelters could threaten up to 700 jobs.

Rejecting the demand from the workers, Magdalena Valerio, minister of labour, migration and social security, categorically stated on November 11, “We are not in a state-run economy, how [do we] intervene in the company. We are not in a communist regime.”

It was on October 17 when Alcoa announced its decision to close two of its smelters in Aviles and La Coruna. The two smelters together have the potential to produce around 180,000 tonnes per annum in total.

As reasons to close down the smelters, Alcoa held the electricity price hike, inefficient technology, high fixed costs and the overcapacity of Chinese aluminium smelting plants responsible.

However,Teresa Ribera, minister for ecological transition, said that holding rising electricity responsible for the closure was nothing but a “smokescreen” to hide the lack of sufficient investment in increasing the efficiency of production.

However, the trade unions in the country opposed the move tooth and nail. Workers of both the Alcoa plants initially staged protests against the move on October 19, and on October 27, the workers of Alcoa Avilés marched on foot for over 30 kilometers to Oviedo, demanding a solution from the government to avoid the closure of the plants.

Alcoa also claimed that the management had clearly explained the decision of closing smelters to the unions of workers in Alcoa’s three plants in Spain: Aviles, La Coruna and San Ciprian (Lugo). But the trade unions in the country reportedly left no stone unturned to oppose the move. Workers of both the Alcoa plants initially staged protests against the move on October 19, and on October 27, the workers of Alcoa Avilés marched on foot for over 30 kilometers to Oviedo, demanding a solution from the government to avoid the closure of the plant.

When protests intensified, minister of industry Reyes Maroto proposed an auction plan for six-month incentives to companies, including Alcoa, which have a high dependence on energy. However, experts doubted the feasibility of the plan as it was clear that electricity costs were not the reason for the closure of the plants.