Workers at Saint-Gobain Cristalería at Avilés in Asturias, Spain supported a 24h strike 29 Nov/08 that paralyzed the factory & demanded the "involvement of government, such as the Principality of Asturias to avoid the closure of the R&D plant", which may "have its days numbered" if measures are not taken, José María Lombardia of the workers' committee reportedly said. "It is unacceptable that a company of this size should present us with measures that could be the prelude to the closure of R&D at the heart of Aviles & at the same time, outsourcing", added the union representative, who emphasized the mobilization of workers in defense of the factory & asked for the involvement of government to solve a very difficult problem. Workers are scheduled to meet 1 Dec/08 with the industry secretary in the Principality, Graciano Torre, to apply for mediation by the regional government in order to avoid what may be the closure of a facility that employs about 80 workers and has already suffered the loss of 21 jobs earlier in November 2008 with the closure of the testing furnace at the Avilés Center for Research and Development. The search for an alternative to this state-of-the-art installation is at the root of the workers' protests, along with other contingency measures such as outsourcing and the closure of facilities such as the Sekurit windshield manufacturing plant. The Sekurit plant employs 250 who will be laid off for 11 days as announced 28 Nov/08 because of the situation in the automotive sector. Management said that auto manufacturers will work to 10% of capacity during the month of December and are in a difficult situation due to the accumulation of stocks.
