MADRID, 19 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI), Belén Gualda, has warned this Wednesday in Congress that she will not authorize any measure of a labor nature in Duro Felguera that is not agreed with the representation of the workers.

In his appearance before the Budget Commission, to which he has gone to explain the accounts of the public company in the new General State Budgets for 2023, several groups have criticized the possibility that this company may carry out layoffs after receiving financial assistance by the State through the SEPI rescue fund.

"The fund is not going to authorize any measure that has not been agreed with the social part in relation to employment," Gualda stressed, assuring that first "there must be an agreement with the social part." "If not, we are not going to authorize that," she has settled.

On September 20, the company informed the workers' representatives of its intention to carry out a layoff plan, based on its financial situation and workload.

The company and the workers' representatives negotiate this adjustment plan with the mediation of the Asturian Service for Extrajudicial Conflict Resolution. The ERE proposed by the company contemplates the dismissal of 208 workers.

Last year this company received financial assistance from the State amounting to 80 million euros through the Solvency Support Fund for Strategic Companies, created in 2020 to facilitate the rescue of companies in difficulty as a result of the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, the Asturian Government undertook to contribute six million euros to the company.