Company Marie Claire has reached a settlement with 190 workers who were laid off after the decision to close the company. The organization is preparing for potential bankruptcy in the second half of July. This Thursday marks the expiration of a fifteen-day notice period, after which the 190 workers agreed to depart from the Vilafranca facility, even though they are still entitled to their corresponding fifteen-day holiday period.
The agreement provides 23 days of compensation distributed across 13 monthly payments, as decided at a late-June meeting between the textile firm specializing in pantyhose and underwear and the workers’ representatives. In addition, a smaller group, at least 72 employees in Castellón and 33 in other parts of Spain, will remain on ERTE for an additional three months, with the possibility of a further three-month extension.
Among those affected, five or six workers are in security and surveillance roles, four are positioned in the warehouse to manage pending orders, and the rest of the staff will continue to receive ERTE payments at home, according to union sources cited by EFE.
Regarding the Marie Claire bankruptcy, a formal filing is expected in the coming week as the search for an interested investor continues. Union sources indicate that several financial groups with opportunistic profiles have emerged showing interest in the brand.
Negotiations with the administration
Simultaneously, discussions are taking place with authorities in the Valencian Community, who are transitioning due to a change in government. Unions are pressing for an industrialization plan for the Els Ports region, a sparsely populated inland area where Marie Claire was founded more than a century ago.
The company has faced financial strain in recent years and has benefited from support provided by the Valencia Institute of Finance. This funding has helped address the debts owed to workers and suppliers and to reorganize the business to better align with current market conditions.
External pressures in recent years include a decline in hosiery consumption, ongoing logistics and raw material challenges, and rising energy costs. It is also noted that Think Textil acquired the Castellón operation in April 2021, a move that influenced the broader corporate landscape for the brand.