In the immense polygon of Jundiz, in Vitoria-Gasteiz, there is a damn avenue. First it was Saunier Duval’s turn, which fired 67 people at the end of 2010. Then came the Enamels San Ignacio and Daewoo. So in the center of the polygon, which has an area of 7 million square meters, you can see a deep scar. Three companies have been the victims of relocation: The German multinational Vaillant was in charge of bringing the production of Saunier Duval to Slovakia, Enamaciones San Ignacio took his own to Morocco and Daewoo to South Korea.

Relocation is not something new in Euskal Herria. According to a study conducted by the Foundation of the Spanish Savings Banks Funcas, between 1999 and 2006 60% of the multinational companies left the CAV. But it seems that the current crisis has brought with it a further wave of relocation: in a week of September, more than 600 people have been affected by an employment regulation dossier (ERE) that has dissolved their employment contract, including the 178 BSH workers in Skisroz and the 140 workers at the Indar de Beasain plant – both in the hands of multinationals. In addition, the perspective of the unemployed is not that of the fat cow years: in August there were 182,136 unemployed people in Hego Euskal Herria, of whom almost half no longer receive any unemployment benefit.

Daewoo and remote nuts

The closure of Daewoo has caused an earthquake in society, as the case of this multinational is paradigmatic. It was implemented in Álava in 1997 and the involvement of the Basque Government was fundamental to this. It was ensured that it would bring wealth and employment; an investment of EUR 72 million and 412 jobs. The Department of Industry granted aid amounting to EUR 18 million and benefited from tax incentives and subsidised land. But the police were done. Investment and jobs did not reach half, and only generated a precarious job, with a three-month strike in return. The Basque Government therefore called on Daewoo to reimburse EUR 1.8 million. For its part, the management of the household appliances sector criticised the public aid received by Daewoo and reported it to the European Commission (EC). Europe considered subsidies as “state aid” and investigated tax holidays, which have also been declared illegal.

The closure of Daewoo has been considered as the failure of the industrial policy promoted by the institutions by the PNV in the 1990s, as a castle artificially built with subsidies. On the contrary, the attraction of foreign investment has been the passion of all Governments. The López Executive, for example, has launched this year through SPRI the agency invest in the Basque Country to boost the investment of foreign capital in the CAV.

Foreign investment, however, is a double-edged sheet. You can bring money and jobs as you have brought them: “We are not interested in the companies that buy and take away,” said SPRI President Tomás Orbea recently. In the Basque Country the weight of the indigenous industry is high compared to other countries, but there are regions that depend on multinationals, especially in Lapurdi, Navarre and Álava. In Álava, the Chamber of Commerce stated in 2007 that one in three workers in the industry worked in such companies, including Michelin and Mercedes Benz. Newell, Cegasa, Kennametal, Kemen, BH, Ceplastik, Thaiser have been closed since then… In most of them the shadow of relocation and foreign black hands has been behind. In the first half of 2011, the Basque Government approved 76 EEC in Llanada Alavesa, one of the highest in the Community.

The surprise after the holidays: day and night…

Daewoo workers are testing T-shirts at Plaza Nueva de Vitoria-Gasteiz. The posters and speakers are ready to be concentrated while the members of the works council have a conversation with the mayor, Javier Maroto. On 22 August, after returning to the Jundiz factory, they met with closed doors, some dismantled machines and the stock of 10,000 refrigerators moved in a few days.

“A year ago the first SREs began and it was the initial thought, ‘oysters parora’, but others were like this. However, the company did not invest and we felt there was something coming, so we started to mobilize in July.” Estibaliz Azpitarte, 36 year old Gasteiztarra, has been working on the project since it was established in Daewoo Jundiz. This summer has not gone to any part of the holiday: “We’ve had a very cheery vacation. I’ve chosen to stay here waiting for whatever comes.”

Daewoo seeks to end the workers with a brief allegation of "market reasons", but the Basque Government has not definitively approved the ere, claiming that there is a lack of documentation. The workers of Daewoo in Vitoria-Gasteiz claim that the company has left the factory “die”, as it has not invested in manufacturing refrigerators of the A+ and AA+ seal, which will be mandatory in Europe. On the contrary, at the Incheon factory in South Korea, they have started producing refrigerators of these seals.

In fact, the company has long wanted to sell its business, as in 1999 the monster of the Daewoo group went bankrupt due to the Asian financial crisis, many of its subsidiaries split, including Daewoo Electronics, owner of the Jundiz plant. Daewoo Electronics, dependent on some of the creditors, has been negotiating with Iranian firm Enthekap and Swedish firm Electrolux to sell the company in recent months, with EUR 529 million on the table, but without success.

Parents and mortgages

The vitorians know very well what the struggles of the workers are like. They have in memory the conflicts of the transition or the long strikes such as that of Caballito. Several people are collecting signatures on the streets: “We’ve received a lot of support and a lot of encouragement, but there’s everything, some people think we’re going to ask for money,” says Idoia Tejedor. When he started four years ago in Daewoo, it would not have occurred to him that he would have just collected signatures. “When I said at home, they didn’t think they wanted to throw us away. But well, others are worse than me, with children, etc.” It's a young working group, and most of them are mortgaged, many of them with young children, and there's a couple who have stayed on the street.

With a view to the future, they are engaged in the subject of negotiations with the management of the company. You know it's going to be a long process, because in two weeks, nothing's moved in the process, but you're going to let the rest be pressed. “You can’t focus on anything else,” says Estibaliz Azpitarte, “I thought I’d start studying, but I haven’t been able to do it, at least until this is fixed.”