The 280 workers of Euskaltel are waiting for clear news on how the ERE that the MásOrange group, to which they belong, will affect them, has presented for six of its companies, including Euskaltel, and which will include 790 workers. They fear that a possible reduction in staff could be the beginning of the end of the company that was the jewel of the Basque industry, already completely diluted in the conglomerate of companies of the telecommunications group, but that the ERE could be diluted even more. “They have devastated us and we are going to disappear. We will be just a brand,” warns the president of the Euskaltel works council, Javier del Blanco, of CCOO, who assures that if staff were to disappear, it could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for the Basque factory.
The company speaks of “voluntary resignations” that the works council specifies: “Voluntary is the first option they consider, we will see later”, they say. But what is clear is that the management of MásOrange intends that this also applies to the workers of the Basque factory, who until now seemed safe from a possible ERE. It must be taken into account that when the acquisition of Euskaltel by MásMóvil materialized in a takeover bid, in 2021, the new owners acquired the commitment of maintain the company’s staff, brand and headquarters in the Basque Country for five years. That is, until 2026. From that period onwards, any change of headquarters will have to obtain the approval of 90% of the board of directors. An almost symbolic point above all, since Euskaltel then had only one owner, MásMóvil, and now MásOrange, after the merger of the two groups in March of this year.
The fact is that the five-year moratorium also had a more symbolic character than anything else, to calm the socio-political climate in Euskadi and the unrest caused by the purchase by the multinational of a public company and that was growing in the heat of investments by the Basque Government. The maintenance of the workforce, the brand and the headquarters is subject to “market conditions” that do not change substantially, a clause open enough to adapt it to the needs of the company. So far, this agreement has been respected, there has been no ERE, although there have been some individual layoffs, but the integration with Orange represents a sufficient change in the market for this commitment to remain a dead letter and the reduction in staff also affects Euskaltel.
The chairman of the works council rules out that the ERE is justified by “organisational duplications” and considers that workers could be “redirected” to other positions without the need to cut jobs. “There is no organisational or productive cause that justifies it,” he says. Although it will be necessary to wait and see how the file is finalised, they fear that, in the case of Euskaltel, this will leave the workforce below 200 workers. “It is unpresentable, it is a scandal, because Euskaltel was once a national project and if the workforce is reduced significantly, it risks disappearing.” “I hope we are wrong,” says Del Blanco, “but a workplace in which there is no decision-making capacity, no command capacity, with a small number of people who will be fewer and fewer… the same day, it could close tomorrow,” he warns. “It can exist as a brand, but as a brand, it can be here or in the United States. The risk of that happening is now very high. It was when MásMóvil entered, but now more and more. It is very clear,” says the union representative.
MásOrange sources, however, stress that they maintain their commitment to Euskadi and the Euskaltel brand, which is considered a “reference brand” and that it “will continue to be so”. In this sense, they affirm that all the products of the Euskaltel brand “are doing very well” since MásMóvil – now MásOrange – took over the company, and that during this period they have increased their number of customers, the cable network has been transformed into fiber and that, as they announced last June, 200 million euros would be invested in Euskadi over the next three years, as a sign of their commitment to Euskadi. “This is the group’s reference brand and the commitment to the Euskaltel brand is untouchable.”
In 15 days the ERE negotiation table will be established, which the company wants to be unique for all the entities involved – Euskaltel, Orange Spain, Orange España Comunicaciones Fixas, Xfera Móviles, Lorca telecom Bidco, R Cable y, Telecable – and that the committees intend to negotiate in each issuing company. Euskaltel has almost halved its workforce in the last ten years.
