Cemex to cut salaries by 25% at its six Spanish production plants, trade unions claim

Mexican cement producer 643 Cemex is planning to cut salaries at its six Spanish production plants by 25% in order to keen the plants open, according to trade unions 4400 CCOO and 5162 UGT.

Four plants are said to have already agreed to the move, but the plants in Alicante and Lloseta (Majorca) have rejected them. In total, the six plants have a workforce of 800 – with the two plants opposing the plan containing a combined 240 employees.

If the Alicante and Lloseta plants continue to snub the plan, CCOO and UGT claim Cemex will turn those factories into selling stores which will operate with a reduced number of employees.

CCOO and UGT also claim that Cemex AIMS at balancing out production and personnel costs by not only reducing salaries of existing staff by 25% but also by reducing by 50% the salary of new appointees, cutting on bonus payments and other benefits.

Meanwhile, new figures show the demand for cement in Spain decreased by 11.2% in October 2013 to 1.003 million tonnes. During the same month of 2012, the consumption of cement was 1.129 million tonnes. According to the sector's association Agrupación de Fabricantes de Cemento de España (4303 Oficemen), cement production was down by 5.1% to 1,139,261tonnes during October 2013. Between January and October 2013 the consumption of cement rose to 9,351,734tonnes - a decrease by 20.9% compared to the same period of 2012. Cumulative production was down by 17% to 11,111,581tonnes.