Metalfor's crisis added a new chapter in Córdoba with the dismissal of 35 workers from the Noetinger plant, in Unión department. The measure affects an industrial structure tied to agricultural machinery and a town where every factory job carries economic and social weight.
Workers said the dismissals were communicated during the Argentina-Egypt match. According to Fausto Barbero, staff had been authorised to leave at noon to watch the game and, half an hour later, messages began arriving instructing them to go to the post office to collect dismissal telegrams.
Barbero, one of the dismissed workers, said he had 21 years of seniority at the company and criticised the management decisions that led to the current situation. He also said many workers had not been notified and that some arrived at the plant the next day and were not allowed to enter.
The Noetinger plant has 146 operators and works as an auto-parts facility within Metalfor's production structure. The Marcos Juárez headquarters is linked to the assembly of sprayers, a segment hit by falling sales and sector contraction.
The dismissals came days after the company requested the opening of a Crisis Prevention Procedure. The process was formalised by Córdoba's Labour Ministry on 2 July and opens a negotiating table between company, union and state.
Workers expected that procedure to halt new dismissals while alternatives were discussed. The arrival of telegrams during that negotiating stage therefore deepened labour unrest.
The firm's financial situation shows signs of severe deterioration. The company has bank debts, rejected cheques and delayed wages affecting direct employees at different plants.
The Metalfor case once again raises a critical question for Córdoba's industry: how to preserve jobs, production scale and metal-mechanical capacity amid weaker demand, financial pressure and corporate crisis.
