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WORKERS HAVE BURNT tyres at the gates of the Nissan carmaking plant in northeastern Spain and are preparing for more protests after the Japanese company said it would shut all its manufacturing in the region as it reshuffles its global business.
The decision will lead to 3,000 direct job cuts, which unions say will cause economic ripple effects and impact some 20,000 families in the Catalonia region.
They see it as a sign of more widespread job losses to come and the growing pressure on governments struggling to contain the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Although Nissan had been mulling for months to scale down its production in Europe and other parts of the world, the company is suffering like many other carmakers from a plunge in demand for vehicles.
Reporting a $6.2 billion loss for the fiscal year ending in March, the Japanese giant marked today its first annual loss in 11 years.
Politicians around the world are debating whether and how to bail out a car industry that already won billions in government support a decade ago after the 2008 financial crisis.
Even before the pandemic, the industry was facing major new costs and disruption as companies rushed to develop cleaner cars and raced to roll out innovations like autonomous vehicles.
Criticism
The Spanish government today criticised Nissan’s move, arguing it would be cheaper for the carmaker to invest in improving its productivity in the region rather than take on the €1 billion cost of the closure.
“We lament this news,” economy minister Nadia Calvino told Spain’s public broadcaster, TVE, adding that the government was seeking more negotiations to “see how to channel this process of find alternative solutions”.
“We think this is a plant that has a strategic value for Nissan,” said Calvino.
Nissan plans to phase out some 3,000 direct jobs by the end of the year, said Juan Carlos Vicente, head of the workers’ committee in Nissan’s main factory in the region after a meeting with company executives.
“They are letting us die,” Vicente told hundreds of colleagues who gathered outside the factory.
He said Nissan had argued that the business was not competitive even if it added a vehicle to its production line, which currently churns out an electric van and a pick-up van.
The plant has been operating well under its maximum capacity for months and workers have been striking since the first rumours of the closure emerged on 4 May.
“We are going to keep our fight, putting in check governments and asking them to support us in reverting this decision,” Vicente told to a crowd that quickly moved to set fire to a pile of tyres.
Reeling from a scandal involving its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, Yokohama-based Nissan is undergoing a deep restructuring, focusing on China, North America and Japan.
The company is leaving the European market, Russia, South America and North Africa to its French partner Renault; and Southeast Asia and Oceania to Mitsubishi.
Management at Renault was also meeting today with unions about its €2 billion cost-cutting plan.
The plan had been under discussion since before the virus crisis, but the lockdown and looming recession are darkening the company’s outlook.
Unions fear it could lead to thousands of job cuts and factory closures.
Renault is expected to announce the plan tomorrow.
In Spain, a key question is whether Nissan will need to pay back the subsidies it has received from the government for furloughing workers during the pandemic.
The temporary lay-offs were granted under the condition that companies would re-hire the staff after the outbreak, and keep them for at least six months.
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That must have hurt
He deserves some serious compensation!
They really dragged him through the dirt with contrived allegations for telling the truth, fair play to you Maurice!
@Tony Maguire: like?
@Tony Maguire: I still say make him commissioner hes gone far to clean up the garadai let him clean up more
@scientia: read his book. It’s disgraceful what he went through, 9 years of it.
@Matthew O’Kane: He completely failed to control the station he was in charge of as the Sergeant in charge, how could he run an entire force?
An apology coming from an institution that has encouraged criminal actions by it own members is a bit ironic.Scandals relating to financial matters, no action, falsification of breath tests, no action, scandals in Donegal no action, A judge in the Jobstown trial did not believe Garda evidence, no action. No prosecutions, as not in the taxpayers interests. We now know the price of criminal actions.
@Donal Desmond: the apology is just a snide dig at mc cabe
@Donal Desmond: All the Gardai have learned is that if they commit a crime in big enough numbers, nobody will take them on beyond acknowledging that there was a crime.
@Donal Desmond: you have wonder if insurance rates were calculated on these falsified data sets?
@Donal Desmond: today it’s reported that it too expensive to punish the hundreds of garda who falsified and removed penalty points … nothing changed.
@Donal Desmond: Hang on a second and lets consider this:
A, Scandal doesnt equal guilt. You are putting the cart before the horse and secondly, most of the money its alledged was misused, was money taken from Gardai in the first place.
B, Breath tests. Thats a fair accusation and criticism but GSOC admit its impossible and as its a discipline and not criminal matter, not worth the time and money.
C, Donegal. Which scandal? The ones from years ago resulted in wide changes and criminal charges, correctly so. Harrison? Hes been completely discredited and his allegations proven false. On that basis I would refer back to point A. Accusation does not equal guilt.
D, Every single day people are found guilty and innocent in courts across the land based on evidence. In those cases, someone claims to be innocent and a Garda says they are guilty. The Judge didnt believe Gardai lied, the Judge simple went with the evidence of some witnesses over others. Do you suggest that either a Garda’s word alone is enough to convict or Gardai should be sacked if they lose a case?
E, Price of criminal actions. I agree that cost shouldnt be a factor but it is, always. The country simple doesnt have the funds to go after every complaint and has to include financial factors when making decisions. I would personally rather money was invested in homeless facilities, schools, hospitals and child welfare than dragging people through courts for minor offences and resulting in petty punishments.
Corruption pays in Ireland.
AGS, DOJ, AIB, Anglo, FG, Hutch, Kininan.
@Christy Nolan: Corruption pays in Ireland*
*As long as you keep voting in right wing, corporatist, status quo parties, corruption is the only way to make a good living.
@Dario Fo:
The others launder the loot.
@Franklin Roosevelt: like Labour? And then of course there is the party with one hand on the ballot box and the other on an AK47.
@Sean @114: who’s touching Alan Kelly?? Inappropriate
And not one member of the force will face any form of discipline because we just don’t do that in this country. Any guard caught cancelling without just cause should face criminal charges for perverting the course of justice. If found guilty, fired and face a sentence. Will soon sort out the corruption in the force.
@Aengus O’Connor: RTÉ reported a number were disciplined.
@Paul: but not charged or fired. Pure lip service from the corrupt force
@Paul: disciplined was probably a written reprimanded.
@Conor Power: or a wage increase ..
@Aengus O’Connor:
All the cancelling was done by Superintendants that is why there is very little sanctions. If it was the lower ranks there would be hell to pay.
@Aengus O’Connor: One member,apparently a senior Garda in HQ cancelled an average of 3 notices a week over a 4 year period–744 in all. He was disciplined and fined 3000 euros–would nog give you much confidence in the discipline regime in the Force.
The penalty in 99% of the cases was a cautionary letter telling the miscreants to be good girls and boys in future.
An entirely inadequate response to the GSOC report which has probably cost us I n excess of a million euros.
@Aengus O’Connor: How do you prove it? If someone logged in using a retired persons account. No one can prove who did it
So you can spend mmillions getting nowhere or admit its pointless and instead change and tighten the system to ensure no future incidents
@Aine O Connor: Surely the Superintendents should be made accountable for their actions.
Did we ever hear whose company supplied the breathalyser units, by the way?
@Fiona Fitzgerald: Ask your namesake darling
Hopefully gardai culture changes dramatically in this regard.
So much is so good about our police force, but too much lives in the parish pump past too of ‘sorting things out’ that new recruits daren’t go against.
Hopefully McCabe will leave an indelible mark that makes it clear – no favours, just objective treatment of all citizens no matter who their mates are or well connected they might be.
@alphanautica: yeah, everything straight down the line. Either black or white, no grey area or use of discretion. I’m not sure I want to exist in such a straightjacket.
Abiding by the law is fairly simple Michael, far from a straightjacket
@alphanautica: FG can no longer preach to anyone about abiding by the law.
@alphanautica:
Discretion is useful when young people do stupid things for the first time. Sometimes a warning and a word in the ear of their parents will set a young person on the right road .
@alphanautica: I would not hold my breath.
@alphanautica: It can also result in a young person obtaining a record that has long term issues or someone down on their luck
Everyone falls on hard times and needs help and understanding. Removing the ability for a Guard to use common sense and judgement in dealing with such people is not an improvement
Rabbits caught in the headlights .
Just move on , forget the many scandals , we’re fine now .
A paltry down grading of a politico , that’s our lot Ireland .
Someone needs to make a movie about this, it’s just so unbelievable
Yeah, they wait 8 years then thank him.
Well that’s alright then, so delighted that the national police force has seen the error of its ways and recognises the harm done to Garda McCabe.
Sure these kind of faux pas could happen to anyone in Ireland’ maybe a bishop or a politician or a banker or a judge or a journalist or a developer.
That’s not enough. Maurice McCabe for president!
If only we could make this man the minister for justice.
I suppose if we use the exact same political system as our old oppressive British rulers, our society too will start to rot from the inside until there’s another revolution.
@Franklin Roosevelt: From one extreme to the other. There must be some happy medium between treating whistle-blowersbadly and treating whistle-blower like the second coming of Christ.
Hurling and Gaelic Football used to be the national sports of Ireland……….Corruption, whether it be by politicians, planners or PC Plod…..is now the national sport. “It’s too time-consuming, and far too costly”….says GSOC…(to prosecute all the Superintendents, and the rest of the Top Brass with their cancerous influence on our police force)……ergo, Carry On Lads, Nothin’ Will Happen….JESUS WEPT…….
I’d like to see the names of those who have had FCNs cancelled.
2 commissioners 2 minsters for justice and by the way 1 Taoiseach Kenny hand not Clean either with this scandal big fat pension as well
The boys club will be back to 100% in no time at all. If they could do that to one of their own there’s no hope for the rest of us. Shameful and shambolic.
Wonder will Noirin comment on this or is she still busy looking for that pesky lost phone….
@Gus Sheridan: shocking that bitch resigned because government lined up a job for her with Interpol Gus
JUST STOP IT
The gardai couldn’t resist another dig at MC cabe. Sickening.
I would not cancel penalty points unless there was a payback?
Ridiculous not one to face consequences, and they expect the public to have respect and confidence in them, piss off.well done sgt mc cabe.
Hilarious – the Garda Siochana thanking Mc Cabe. It will be followed shortly by an apology for trying to ruin his life for blowing their cover!
Another embarrassment on behalf of the gardai after ruining his life. Round them all up and sack them what a miserable organisation.
Who signed the statement worth nothing if it not signed by individuals ??
Lols
McCabe needs to be made commissioner, with the job to clean up the guards
@Cathal Mac Einri:
All Sgt McCabe ever wanted was for his colleagues to do their job. Not much to ask. And see the thanks he got. I believe the previous Garda Commissioner thought that she had a case to discredit him and it blew up in her face when he produced a tape of a meeting which proved that the allegations against him were lies. Where are these two senior members of the force who fabricated this evidence against him and who planted a file in Tulsa with more false allegations . I hope the Charlton Tribunal establishes who did what and when.
We don’t need an election. This government is doing a great job. Suckers
That man and his family have been to hell and back at the behest of state organisations and their representatives. No amount of compensation can rectify a seriously dark time for them when they must have felt that the world was against them.
Given the damage they tried to inflict on him, I’d say it would be a good time to bring their cheque book to the apology table – Their cheque book, not ours.
@Brendan Geoghegan: I do recall Luke Ming Flanagan informing the Dail that he had points cancelled on two occasions in 2011. Does that mean he’s corrupt?
The whole lot is a disgusting joke on the people of this banana republic !
Its a pity they did not back him when he was been walked on by the big shots Two garda commissioners two minister for justice gone the whole thing stinks.Those at the top who tried to frame him should be brought to justice and jailed and those who turned a blind eye and refused to back him should hang their heads in shame
Oh they’re do thrilled with him !
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