OVER a hundred people who have been made redundant from Nissan in Barcelona blockaded the access to the factory yesterday morning in protest.

Around 700 employees in total are affected by the redundancy notice that was applied in July, and which those concerned consider ‘discriminatory’.

Many of the protestors had already gathered at the main door of the factory as early as 05.15hrs to prevent the first workers of the day from returning after their summer holidays.

Employees with shifts starting at 06.00hrs and 08.00hrs were forced to enter the building via side-doors and, in some cases, escorted by the Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalunya’s answer to the Guardia Civil.

But many of the employees who were unable to enter the building joined the protest in solidarity with their former colleagues, meaning the demonstration gathered strength in numbers throughout the morning.

By 10.00hrs, the crowd had dispersed and it was business as usual for the Nissan factory in the Zona Franca area.

Those who have lost their jobs say the redundancies have been made ‘without taking account of personal circumstances’ and were based upon their membership of unions.

Although the UGT, CCOO and USOC were not involved, former Nissan workers who are members joined in, claiming they were the worst-hit by the job cuts.

These unions had been against various elements of the mass redundancy, with USOC saying the number due to lose their jobs was ‘disproportional’ to the factory’s productive capacity, and claiming that a good many of those laid off were among their members.