The CC.OO. union, the majority in Freixenet, has requested the withdrawal of the ERTE due to force majeure that the cava leader has presented for up to 615 workers starting in May. The Sant Sadurní d’Anoia company has requested a temporary employment regulation file due to the drought, the first large company to benefit from this mechanism in Catalonia. Workers’ representatives fear that a precedent will be created and other firms, both in the cava sector and in other branches of activity, will follow similar measures, with the consequent impact on employment.
The union has demanded that the company’s management sit down “immediately to negotiate” other measures to safeguard jobs, they said in a statement. Workers’ sources consider that the drought “is not a situation of sudden force” and that measures could have been taken in advance.
Recently, the group’s workers agreed not to work for eight Fridays due to the drop in production due to the lack of grapes caused by the drought. “For several years now, the harvests have been suffering from the lack of rain and climate change, and it seems that these difficulties will continue in the future,” they maintain from CC.OO.
Given this situation, the union has requested the Cava Regulatory Council to make the regulatory framework more flexible for the production of cava in an exceptional and time-limited manner. “In this scenario, it is crucial to adjust the regulations for the production of cava and provide it with the flexibility that other denominations of origin in the country and internationally have to alleviate this serious situation,” they consider. The Regulatory Council recently approved new rules for the production of cava to try to mitigate the impact of the water crisis that Catalonia is suffering. Regarding the ERTE presented by Freixenet, it must still be evaluated by the Department of Business and Labor.
This is a significant decision, since Freixenet is the first large company in the food sector to present an ERTE due to force majeure due to the drought. The central government plans to meet with both the cava giant and the Regulatory Council to analyze the situation. He trusts, in any case, that ERTE is “temporary.”
“We believe that it is a temporary and conjunctural situation, that when production recovers it will return to normal. We are going to meet with them to see how to do it as soon as possible,” said the Secretary General of Agrarian Resources and Food Security, Fernando Miranda. , during the presentation of the 2023 agri-food industry data in Madrid.
