Dacia has placed 1,100 employees at its factory in Mioveni, near Pitesti, Romania in 'technical unemployment' between 2 and 30 June, local media reported.
The factory, which employs about 15,000 people, resumed activity in early May, after being closed for more than a month due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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The 1,100 employees furloughed work in the pressing and mechanical departments, union leaders told local media.
These sections produce car parts and components for factories in Russia, Morocco, Brazil, and France which are closed.
"Those who are in technical unemployment make parts for others. Thus, as they're not working, our people can't work either […] Out of 15,000 people, 1,100 stay at home," Nicolae Pavelescu, Dacia union leader, told Mediafax.
Dacia fully resumed activity on 4 May and production currently is 1,180 cars per day, according to union sources.
Data from the Romanian Automobile Manufacturers Association – ACAROM – showed Dacia's sales in Europe dropped by 53% to 93,258 units in the first four months of this year.
"The manufacturing activity on the Dacia industrial platform in Mioveni was suspended and resumed gradually, starting from 21 April, in agreement with the social partners, prioritising the hygiene and safety conditions for protecting the health of our employees.
Since 11 May, the activity of the two plants has been carried out in three shifts, adapting it to the commercial demand. At the end of May, the manufacturing rate was 1,200 vehicles per day, and during June, it is expected to increase to 1,300 vehicles per day," Renault Group Romania communications department said in a press release quoted by Digi24.ro.
Renault announced recently it would suspend a capacity increase project at the Dacia plant in Romania, as part of a bigger plan to cut fixed costs by more than EUR2bn over the next three years, romania-insider.com noted.
