BARCELONA: Nissan Motor Co. and the unions at its Barcelona plants reached an agreement on Wednesday to postpone by one year, until December 2021, the closure of the three plants, two union leaders told Reuters after more than 30 hours of negotiations.

The Japanese carmaker has also agreed not to conduct mass layoffs until the end of next year, and in exchange production will resume gradually on Aug. 24, said UGT union leader at Nissan, Javier Hernandez. Workers have been on strike since early May.

Nissan Spain spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The plants, which employ around 3,000 workers and indirectly an additional 20,000, were originally due to close by the end of this year, but Nissan said recently it was open to postponing it to give more time for authorities to find another company interested in the units.