(dr) Coindu
The unit will no longer open in 2025. It will have a double impact on the community, warns the union. Italian group bought the factory a month ago.
The Union of Metallurgical and Related Industries (SIMA) revealed this Monday that the manufacturing unit of Coindu em Arcos de Valdevez or close at the end of the month December and leave around 350 workers jobless.
Contacted by the Lusa agency, the president of SIMA, José Simões, said that the closure of the Arcos de Valdevez unit of the manufacturer of components for the automotive sector was communicated to the union on Sunday and reaffirmed on Monday to its lawyer.
In a statement sent to newsrooms, SIMA highlights that, “in addition to the impact on each of those directly affected” the closure of the Arcos de Valdevez factory, in the district of Viana do Castelo, “will have a negative impact on the community and the region where the company is located.”
The closure of the Coindu factory in Arcos de Valdevez, in the district of Viana do Castelo, takes place about a month after the buy of the company by Italian group Mastrotto.
“This process was carried out without any information and consultation to workersin a complete illegality without any action from the competent authorities”, highlights SIMA.
On October 15th, Gruppo Mastrotto, founded in 1958 in Italy, announced, in , the acquisition of “a majority stake in Coindu – Componentes Para A Indústria Automóvel, SA, through a capital contribution to support the business relaunch“.
“This transaction makes Coindu part of a leading leather industry groupconsolidating its financial and operational stability. For Gruppo Mastrotto, this operation aims to advance vertical integration, increasing the company’s ability to offer end-to-end solutions for car interiors and strengthening its competitive position in the global market”, reads the note.
Gruppo Mastrotto adds that it is, like Coindu, “committed to expand its presence in luxury market segments“.
In Portugal, Coindu, founded in 1988, has manufacturing units in Arcos de Valdevez, in the district of Viana do Castelo, and in Joane, municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão, in the district of Braga, employing a total of around 2,000 workers.
The company specializes in the production of car seat covers and interior surface decorative parts.
In the note sent to the press, SIMA says that “since the Mastrotto group acquired the majority of the company Coindu, there has been talk that the Arcos de Valdevez unit would be sold, having already visits to the company by a another company neighbor”.
“Interestingly, the company communicates its intention to carry out a dismissal of more than three dozen workers due to the closure of the unit at the end of 2024, as a result of the failure to obtain the new project that was expected”, reveals SIMA.
Faced with this situation, “SIMA considers the measures it will adopt both legally and in support of affected workers”.
“Let it be clear that no measure is excluded. The company must be aware that this process will respect all legal procedures, within the prescribed deadlines and not those that are most convenient for the company”.
The Lusa agency contacted Coindu’s administration, but received no response.
This Tuesday morning, on the first day of work when employees already know that the company is going to close, the company’s management informed Antena 1 radio that it does not speak to journalists.
