Alcoa's consultation period for San Ciprián Aluminum Plant ends without agreement

Alcoa announced that the formal consultation process for San Ciprián aluminum plant in Spain ended without an agreement with the workers’ representatives.

The company now have up to 15 days to announce a decision regarding the smelter’s 228,000 tonnes of annual capacity.

In August, Alcoa reached an agreement with the workers’ representatives to extend the deadline of the formal consultation period for collective dismissal to September 28, 2020. The agreement includes a process to evaluate a potential sale of the aluminium plant to GFG Alliance.

 “If a sales agreement is not reached by September 27, 2020, the Company and the workers’ representatives would then meet for one day on September 28, 2020, on the single topic of a social plan that would include government-supported unemployment benefits (ERTE), or, barring no agreement on an ERTE, the implementation of a permanent collective dismissal,” Alcoa earlier said.

The workers’ representatives on September 28, 2020 declined to agree on a social plan, and the company has 15 days, per Spanish regulations, to announce a decision.

The formal consultation period, which began on June 25, 2020, includes discussions of a restructuring plan for the aluminium facility that aimed at ending persistent and recurring financial losses.

The San Ciprián site has both an aluminium plant and an alumina refinery. The alumina refinery is not included in the consultation or the sales process.

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