The judge of the National audience Maria Tardon has admitted to processing the complaint presented by the Confederation of Professional Staff against a total of ten individuals and nine between legal entities in relation to the sale process of Alcoa’s plants in Avilà © s and La Coruna.
The complaint is presented for facts considered by the union entity as constituting the misappropriation, against the safety of workers and belonging to a criminal group. It is directed against, among others.
In the admission order, the magistrate instructs the UDEF to carry out a comprehensive investigation with respect to the natural and legal persons against whom the complaint is directed to clarify the facts and prior to resolving the proceedings requested by the plaintiffs.
In addition, “taking into account the lack of clarity and specificity noted in the complaint”, the judge asks the UDEF to inform him about the beneficial ownership of the two factories, its partners, administrative and representative bodies, capital stock, financial situation and any elements that may be relevant to determine its possible solvency, among other points.
The complaint states that Alcoa Inespal, a US company, was engaged in the production of aluminum and brought together 688 workers in its two centers in A Coruna and Avilsa. Affirms that the aforementioned company deceived the union representatives of the workers in the framework of the negotiations of the collective termination of the employment relationship, which began on October 17, 2018, “thus eluding the payment of their business responsibilities with the workers, leading to the insolvency of the productive units, for their profitable transfer to third parties”.
The complaining union recounts the entire sale process and concludes that, ultimately, with their actions “the defendants have led to the ownership of the two factories ending up in the hands of shell companies without the capacity to carry out the Business Plan, neither that of the payment of workers’ wages, nor that of investment, thereby frustrating the final objective of the negotiation, the safeguarding of jobs “.
At the same time, it adds, this would have led to the breach of the contracting clauses, which would determine the release of Alcoa from the obligation to invest (in the agreement it assumed a disbursement of 95 million dollars payable in 21 months from the sale, for the maintenance of the staff -Approximate salary cost 42.5 million annual dollars-), execution of the business plan and protection measures to avoid the use of funds for a different purpose, with 20 million earmarked for each plant to carry out investments.
Thus, the first thing Alcoa does, they explain, is to block the investment of the 40 million dollars, registering it notarially, which stopped investments and the payment of salaries, social security payments and contributions to pension plans of the workers who were still attached to the company. Finally, it is added that the workers of the plants lack effective work and the training to which they were committed has not been given either.
In her order, the head of the Central Court of Instruction Number 3 of the National Court recalls that last September 17 the Social Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Galicia, in the procedure on Collective Dismissal affecting the Alcoa factory of San Ciprián (Lugo), a judgment was issued declaring its nullity and condemning the company to reinstate the affected workers (524) to their job, on the understanding that the company acted with bad faith in the negotiations, – in a parallel process similar to that followed in the two factories affected by this complaint – and that the sole purpose that guided it was to shut down the electrolytic tanks to close the factory in the most profitable manner possible.
It also indicates that Alcoa’s dialogues with a company to sell the plant “allow suspecting the existence of a strategic decision”, and that it entered the negotiation “with predetermined positions and a clear obstinacy Ass not reaching a final agreement “.
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