Final stretch to unlock collective dismissal at Leche Pascual: workers mobilize again

BarcelonaKey days for the future of the 86 workers who make up the Leche Pascual workforce in Gurb (Osona). After the Castilian company sealed the sale of the plant to the Catalan Casa Tarradellas, the dairy company's plant has been partially dismantled for months and the handover will take place next July 31. The future of the workers, however, remains uncertain: although there has been talk of an eventual incorporation into Casa Tarradellas, currently the buyer's offers do not convince the staff, as the conditions they propose are not precise enough.remains uncertain: while there has been talk of an eventual incorporation into Casa Tarradellas, currently the buyer's offers do not convince the staff, as the conditions they propose are not precise enough.

Currently, according to sources close to the negotiation who explain to ARA, the workers have three proposals on the table: relocation to the Leche Pascual plant in Aranda del Duero, compensation that they consider "insufficient", or the aforementioned route of incorporating into Casa Tarradellas. Furthermore, as pointed out by Col·lectiu Ronda –the cooperative of lawyers representing the workers in this process–, the new economic proposal made to them by the Burgos company continues to be "insufficient", and for this reason the staff has decided to resume mobilizations.

The first takes place this very Thursday at noon in front of the dairy company's headquarters in Madrid. On Friday, the workers will also protest outside the traditional summer party of Casa Tarradellas.

The offers

As explained by sources close to the staff, the workers' preferred option would be to reach a severance agreement "that reflects the company's great profits". As detailed by Col·lectiu Ronda in a statement, the company's economic situation is "extremely positive": last year it billed more than 398 million euros packaging milk and sold the Gurb factory to Casa Tarradellas for 20.4 million. However, they denounce that the compensation offered to employees is for 3.5 million euros. "The company is not doing badly, so we understand that they must offer compensation that allows workers to train in new specialties," say the staff's lawyers.

Furthermore, the workers also explain that they remain open to studying a possible incorporation into Casa Tarradellas, even though they denounce that this situation is "being used" to avoid agreeing on "fair compensation". However, Casa Tarradellas' current offer also does not quite fit the workers' demands: the Osonenc food group would have reserved up to 67 jobs for those employees who wish to do so.

The fact is, however, that the jobs would not be linked to the Gurb plant, nor have the conditions under which they would be carried out been detailed, according to sources from the workers. "We are being asked to value a supposed labor alternative about which we know absolutely nothing," express the staff representatives. The option of transferring to Aranda del Duero is almost ruled out by the majority of employees.

In the event that an agreement is not reached before the end of the consultation period, the staff representation also assures that the workers are willing to "litigate the collective dismissal and take all necessary actions to defend their rights". Until now, the Gurb factory has been dedicated to packaging milk, although with the change of ownership, its activity is planned to be replaced by the production of mozzarella.