The conflict at UnionBat opened a new point of industrial tension in Entre Ríos after the company notified nearly 100 dismissals at its plant in the Gualeguaychú Industrial Park.
The firm, dedicated to battery production and supplier to automotive terminals, has facilities in San Martín, Buenos Aires province, and in Gualeguaychú. The main impact of the conflict is now concentrated at the Entre Ríos site.
According to workers, notices arrived during shift change and also through WhatsApp messages. The reaction was immediate: workers set up outside the plant to maintain a physical presence and prevent possible emptying or dismantling of the facility.
Workers organised in the Chemical Workers' Union are maintaining shifts at the factory gate. Their stated goal is to preserve the facilities, make the claim visible and force quick intervention by the labour authority.
Martín Gómez, workers' delegate, said the concern is not limited to severance payments. The central demand is to keep jobs, because the loss of nearly 100 wages directly affects families and the social fabric of Gualeguaychú.
Workers plan to take the complaint to the Labour Ministry and demand an institutional response. The case raises the state's role in the face of business decisions that can abruptly alter the labour structure of an industrial city.
The company operates in a relevant segment of the automotive chain: battery manufacturing. For that reason, the conflict goes beyond the immediate labour dimension and exposes the fragility of industrial suppliers amid falling demand, cost-cutting and pressure on registered employment.
For Entre Ríos, UnionBat adds to a series of productive disputes showing deterioration in formal employment in manufacturing sectors. The underlying question is whether the loss of jobs will be treated as a private problem or as a public issue of industrial and territorial policy.
