Casbega, a subsidiary of the Coca-Cola bottling company Europacific Partners, has proposed to the staff of its offices in Barcelona and Madrid an ERE for 85 workers in the customer service and commercial areas, according to knowledgeable sources. The casualties would occur mainly in Catalonia, with 64 departures compared to the 21 in Madrid, the company has detailed to Europa Press.
The company justifies the decision for organizational reasons, since it will centralize customer service operations in Bulgaria. To reach the proposed figure, early retirements or job changes will be prioritized.
In the case of Barcelona, ??Coca-Cola Europacific Partners has several centers, but the one affected would be Esplugues, which has about 250 workers. Based on the calculations used, the impact of the ERE would exceed 25% of the workforce. In Madrid there are about 200 workers and union sources estimate the impact at around 10%.
The CSIF union has highlighted in a statement that the company “restructures customer service positions, people culture and commercial operations, unifying them in Bulgaria.” The company has already announced the decision to the works councils and it is expected that they will meet in the coming days to obtain more information. Once the official communication has been delivered, a period of 7 days will open to establish the negotiating table.
“CSIF is against traumatic dismissals and is committed to voluntary dismissals, promoting early retirements,” the union center highlighted. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners has operations in Europe, Asia and Oceania.
The labor adjustment joins the list of recent ERE that have occurred in Catalonia, the last known this Tuesday with a file for 140 workers at the Johnson Controls Vacarisses plant. Until November 2023, the most recent official data, departures through ERE grew by 29% in Catalonia, up to 5,936 people, with an impact mainly on sectors related to information technologies, such as the outsourcing of Facebook, Glovo, Wallbox and Tripadvisor.