The Danone staff in Parets del Vallès has called off the strike that began last Saturday and extended until March 27 to protest the announcement of the plant’s closure. The decision comes after unions and management have agreed on a package of measures that contemplate all the workers’ requests, including early retirement from 55 years of age, severance pay and the transfer of 37 people to the Aldaia plant ( Valencian Community). The closure decision itself remains unchanged.
The works council values ??the result of the negotiation as very satisfactory, after a marathon day that started early this Monday and lasted until late into the night, with the mediation of the Department of Labor. This Tuesday the entire staff will be informed and on Wednesday the pre-agreement will be put to a vote.
The workers’ representatives ended the day of negotiations satisfied with the result, in which in the afternoon the management accepted the requests that the staff conveyed to them. “The company wanted to close, it has told us so in all the meetings, and we have fought for non-closure, but we have also made a negotiation based on four ideas, early retirements, those compensated, relocations and those who would like to complete personal projects,” the president of the works council, Jordi Barragan, explained in statements to ACN.
157 people work at the Parets plant and products such as Oikos, Alpro and Vitalínea are manufactured.
The conversations have ended with the approval by the management of early retirements for employees over 55 years of age, a measure that will benefit 33 workers, as well as relocations at the Valencian plant, where at the moment there are 37 positions open with the perspective that open more. Regarding the compensation regime, Barragan assures that they are good conditions, although first they want to transfer them to their colleagues through the assemblies that will be held this Tuesday at the plant.
“We had a clear objective that came from the mandate of the previous assemblies, and we have stood firm, we have not lowered our proposal and the company has been getting closer, and in the afternoon we have achieved the understanding that has led us to sign the pre-agreement” , he relates.
After the information meetings this Tuesday, the workers will be called to vote on Wednesday to ratify or not this pre-agreement, a result that is expected to not be known until late at night.
Danone has six plants in Spain, three for dairy and three for water. The Parets plant is part of the industrial facilities that produce dairy, along with Tres Cantos (Madrid) and Aldaia, while the water facilities are in Sant Hilari Sacalm (Girona), Lanjarón (Granada) and Sigüenza (Guadalajara).
