Strikes at the Megasa-owned Megasider Zaragoza steel bar plant have led to production cuts, meaning the group is currently missing its targets, a union spokesman told S&P Global Platts, adding that industrial action is likely to extend into February.
The unions are debating whether to increase the number of strike hours from two hours per shift, according to the spokesman for the regional branch of the Confederacion Sindical de Comisiones Obreras Union (CCOO), who declined to be named, as the two sides have failed to reach an agreement over future pay and working conditions.
The current action, which started on January 12 and is due to extend until January 28, has already affected output, the spokesman added, without giving a figure, and also caused the company to incur additional costs.
The current decline, which theoretically should be around a 25% drop, considering the reduced shift hours and three shifts per day, is likely to be even wider in February if no agreement is reached, the spokesman said, adding that nearly all of the plant's workers were participating in the action.
The unions are striking over a proposed unilateral 20% cut in worker pay, he said. Nobody at Megasa would comment on the matter.
Megasa bought the 500,000 mt/year Megasider Zaragoza plant from ArcelorMittal in 2016. The mill is specialized in merchant bars, with a wide range of dimensions and grades produced. The range also includes rebar and some sections.
Megasa operates another plant in Spain, at Naron, which produces rebar in straight lengths, coils and spools and two plants near Lisbon and Porto, Portugal, which specialize in the manufacture of wire rod and rebar in straight lengths, respectively.
