Foment del Treball supports Seat S.A. and demands to guarantee its industrial future in Catalonia

Foment del Treball has expressed this Sunday its full support for Seat S.A., its management and its workers, has recalled that the automobile company has been part of the Catalan industrial heart since 1950, and has asked that the industrial future of the company be "absolutely guaranteed" within the Volkswagen Group's transformation program.

"Seat S.A.'s relationship with Catalonia is not only historical, but also a reference and full of the future. The Seat brand is part of our industrial heritage. And Seat S.A., Martorell and its capacity to manufacture vehicles must continue to be part of the industrial future of Catalonia," Foment stressed in a statement.

He said this after the Volkswagen Group unanimously approved on Thursday the 'Future Plan 2030', a transformation program that includes an adjustment to the capacity of the global workforce of approximately 50,000 jobs, including management positions.

The Catalan employers' association has valued the message of trust transmitted by the management of Seat S.A. and Volkswagen Group on the future of the company and its industrial capacity, as well as the Intercenter Committee, in defense of a solid industrial future and quality employment.

Foment has considered it "essential" to differentiate the commercial future of the Seat brand from the future of Seat S.A. as an industrial company, and has said that Volkswagen's decisions cannot call into question the company's ability to continue designing, developing and manufacturing automobiles from Catalonia.

In this sense, Foment has defended the continuity of the Seat brand and has trusted that market conditions, the evolution of demand and the European regulatory framework will allow it to maintain a brand "closely linked" to the industrial history of Catalonia and Spain.

However, he said that "beyond the evolution that the brand may have, what must be absolutely guaranteed is the industrial future of Seat S.A. of Martorell (Barcelona) and all of its plants in Catalonia."

For Foment, any strategic transformation of the Volkswagen Group must aim to "strengthen the industrial role of Seat S.A. within the group and preserve its capacity to generate employment, investment, innovation and economic activity" in Catalonia.

The employers' association has trusted that the new industrial responsibilities will allow for the consolidation and expansion of employment in the coming years, and has recalled that the company is "strategic" for the Catalan economy, being one of its great pillars.

He highlighted the great investment and transformation effort made in recent years by the company, which constitutes "a long-term commitment that must have continuity and allow Catalonia to be placed at the center of the new European automobile industry."