Privatization of Izar Nears Completion

The privatization of the shipbuilding company IZAR will come to an end on Tuesday when the state-owned holding company Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI) completes the sale of the IZAR facilities in the Basque town of Sestao and Gijon and Seville in Spain. Concerning the Izar facilities in Manises (Valencia), the SEPI is to propose Tuesday the delay of the sale as the European Commission need some more data on it. Spanish trade union CC.OO. is to challenge the privatization of the IZAR factories as, according to the Spanish union, the Spanish Government has broken the agreement reached with the unions in December 2004. Members of the SEPI and the trade unions met Monday for almost three hours within the framework of the committee to follow the agreement. The privatization comes to an end amid the protests of the employees despite the Spanish president's call for calm last Friday. According to the SEPI, the sale of the assets is the only way to maintain the military and civil activities and employment. Employees reject IZAR's May agreement and unions reject the separate sale of the shipbuilding facilities. Source: EiTB