Solidaridad para los trabajadores de Nissan

European Continental Committee 20 May 2020

To

ICOR-organizations in Europe

Dear comrades,

Since May 4, the entire workforce of the Nissan plant in Barcelona has been on strike for an indefinite period of time in order to preserve their jobs and a future perspective. The ECC wrote to the Nissan workers on May 15 in a declaration of solidarity:

"Your strike is especially significant in Corona times. The international monopolies are trying to shift the burden of the economic crisis onto the workers through mass dismissals and wage cuts. Right-wing governments are using the pandemic as an excuse to impose emergency measures against the working class and all other laborers, to make strikes and protests more difficult or to prevent them altogether. You do not let yourselves be impressed by this, thus encouraging the international working class to fight for their rights as well, especially for the struggle for every job.

For the ICOR, the organization of international workers' solidarity is a priority task. We want to make your strike more widely known among the ICOR organizations in Europe so that they can organize solidarity in their countries.”

We ask you to make this strike known among automobile workers in your countries and to organize the solidarity with the Nissan workers in Barcelona.

More details about the background of the strike can be found in a report of the International Automobile Workers' Coordination and and a report of the comrades of O.C. Revolución, who work closely with ICOR Europe (see attachment 1 and 2).

Please send solidarity addresses to the Nissan workers in Spanish or English language to the address of the International Automobile Workers' Coordination info@iawc.info and for information to ICOR Europe coordinationeurope@yahoo.co.uk. We will forward the solidarity addresses to the comrades of O.C.R. Spain.

Donations can be transferred to the Spanish account ES21 0049 1944 2623 1003 0440 with the keyword "Solidarity for Nissan Workers”

In solidarity

Jeroen Toussaint and Joachim Griesbaum

(ECC Coordinators)

O.C. Revolución <contacto@somosrevolucion.es>

We send you a brief report about the struggle on Nissan:

Nissan in Barcelona is a "minor" plant, the workers do not see it feasible to win the battle for the reduction of hours.

In addition, the particular reason the workers are struggling is that while an important part of the workforce is temporarily fired (due to the coronavirus crisis), the rest of the workers have been called by the company to start the activity with the  purpose of carrying out an order for Mercedes Benz. The company is in a hurry to take production forward before June, because a European regulation will come into force that will prevent the production of this model.

Our comrades who are in contact with the union representative we are close to, he is close to Marxism. In their factory they are analyzing the problem very well but obstacles are being found by other Nissan factories in Spain,  in this case the risk is that the production of Nissan Barcelona, which is secondary models, would be dismantled in favor of the most advanced and successful Japanese production, and in particular they have attempted international coordination, but the
representatives of the workers of Nissan UK break international unity and do not see that way possible.

We have published an issue of "El Altavoz" about Nissan in the past. It is a newspaper that we use as a tool to get closer to industrial workers, it is not our main organ of expression, it is only a
way of raising conciousness gradually in the workers that has been succesful in bringing them closer to us.

In our social media we have created a solidarity Facebook frame as well as two videos, one made by the workers and a different one is the pamphlet in audio form and encouraging to help financially.

Collaboration and possible help

1- As a most important point, the monetary issue. We will have an account number for the resistance fund for which we request maximum dissemination and contributions if possible.

2- Of course, that all Nissan staff that you can influence to adopt a position of international struggle, can listen to colleagues from Barcelona to open up channels of cooperation. For example, we think it would be very good to have videos made by automotive workers in other countries to encourage Nissan workers in their fight, with the official slogan of the campaign (#FuturoParaNissanYa!, or Future for Nissan Now!). For example, if you have presence in Japan, maximum solidarity from Japan, which would be where the production that leaves from Barcelona would go, would be vital. This is good both to put pressure on Nissan at its headquarters, and to combat unlikely but possible
xenophobic or chauvinistic developments among the workers in Barcelona.
Any help will be very appreciated.

With International solidarity in mind

Organización Comunista Revolución

www.somosrevolucion.es

German Coordination Group of the International Automotive Workers' Coordination

Background information: Since fall 2017, Daimler has the X-Class (pick-up/platform truck) built at the Nissan plant in Barcelona in a free trade zone (Zona Franca), roughly identical in construction and on the same line as the Nissan Navara and the Renault Alaskan. However, worldwide demand for new cars has been declining since the beginning of the global economic crisis in autumn 2018. About one-fifth of global car capacity is not being used. Even before Corona, the plant in Barcelona, with its approximately 3500 direct jobs, was only working at 25 percent capacity. In February 2020, Daimler announced the complete phase-out of the X-Class as part of its crisis-plans.

Nissan now only wanted to start up the line with the pick-up models, on which the last Mercedes-X were to roll off the production line by the end of May. For the other line, with the new electric van Nissan E-NV200, there are no start-up plans. This alarmed the colleagues: It smells like the whole factory is preparing to close down!

The workers are not even properly informed about what is going on. They are not to be treated like that.

The Spanish colleagues achieved that starting from the smaller Nissan factory in Montcada the whole factory is out of work, also the production of the X-class (Daimler) is prevented.

The pressure on the Japanese Nissan group in its cooperation with Daimler and Renault must also be developed internationally - this coordination is supported by the International Automobile Workers Coordination.

To this end, an International Program of Struggle was agreed at the 2nd International Automobile Workers Conference in South Africa, which states under point 10

"In order to realize our program of struggle we organize solidarity locally to internationally - with declarations, joint coordinated actions up to strikes and solidarity campaigns."

Therefore, we call upon you:

Announce the brave strike of our colleagues, make donations in support of them and send solidarity declarations!

Spread this call especially among all Daimler, Nissan and Renault colleagues worldwide!

Report about your experiences on the homepage www.automotiveworkers.org

Declarations of solidarity to info@iawc.info. May 2020