Freixenet employees are calling for a strike and accusing the company of "killing cava."

BarcelonaThe workforce of the multinational cava company Freixenet Henkell began a four-day strike at 10 p.m. on Monday, with 100% participation by Tuesday morning, according to Antonio Domínguez, president of the company's works council, who spoke to ARA. The workers are demonstrating outside the group's headquarters in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia (Alt Penedès) to protest the redundancy plan (ERE) filed by management to cut the workforce by 24 percent. They accuse the company of wanting to "kill cava" by focusing on the production of sparkling wines that require less labor and allow for careless production.

According to Domínguez, the strike is fully active both at the start of the 10 p.m. shift on Monday and the following shift, which began at 6 a.m. on Tuesday. Likewise, office staff did not return to work at 8 a.m.

For its part, Freixenet has simply stated that it "respects the workers' right to protest." "The company is currently negotiating with the workers' legal representatives," and has therefore declined to comment on the strike "out of respect for this negotiation," sources from the company told ARA.

HeERE that was presented in April The management of the Cava group is seeking to reduce the workforce by a maximum of 180 people at Freixenet and Segura Viudas—another of the group's wineries—representing 24% of the company's total current workforce. The company's argument is that it needs staff cuts "to restructure its production operations" in the face of the "unprecedented crisis" affecting the cava industry. "Extreme weather patterns and the long-term consequences of the ongoing multi-year drought in Catalonia" have caused "severe disruptions" to the wine sector in recent years, Freixenet stated when it filed the file.

It should be noted that a majority of Freixenet's shares are held by Henkell, the wine subsidiary of the German food multinational Geschwister Oetker. In 2018, the Ferrer and Bonet families, direct descendants of Freixenet's founders, approved Henkell's entry into the company's capital with a 50.7% stake, which the German company acquired for approximately €220 million. Since then, Freixenet Henkell has been led by German Andreas Brokemper and by the Catalan Pere Ferrer.

At the end of last year, the bank already filed a temporary employment regulation file (ERTO) due to force majeure due to the drought, but It was initially rejected by the GeneralitatIn a second attempt, citing other reasons, the Department of Labor did accept the temporary file.

Change of model

One of the issues that most concerns the group's workforce is a possible change in Freixenet's production model. Domínguez believes this sparkling wine is made with grapes sourced primarily from Castilla-La Mancha and was presented to the workforce as a "temporary" solution to the lack of grapes from the Penedès region during the drought. The well-known Carta Nevada cava, which does not follow the more rigorous production process established by the DO, cannot be labeled as such. Germany is no longer the main export market for cava bottles. precisely because of the influence Freixenet has within the DO and the decision to sell this alternative sparkling wine. relocate. But the brand does," Domínguez explained, referring to the fact that Freixenet allocates part of its production to making a wine outside the DO but which retains the company's name on the label. According to the union representative, there is a risk that 100% of the production of this sparkling wine will end up going to Germany, despite the better working conditions enjoyed by employees at Freixenet wineries in the Penedès. The company "wants to change the production model, let it say so."

The president of the works council described the atmosphere among the workforce as "very tense," especially following the meeting held on Friday, the fifth in the negotiations between unions and management. At the meeting, which took place on Friday, the company announced that the majority of the 180 planned layoffs would be for employees under 50 years of age to avoid the so-called Telefónica clause, the legal doctrine that requires companies to compensate the state for employees who take early retirement in a collective redundancy plan.

Domínguez believes that, if those ultimately affected by the file are younger workers, what the company is doing is "a hidden double ERE," as it will first cut the workforce by laying off these 180 employees and in the immediately following years it will also reduce it by granting early retirement to older employees, which, according to the committee's calculations, will amount to 0 more.

A new negotiating meeting between the parties is scheduled for this Tuesday, but union representatives are not optimistic. "We do not rule out more strike days next week," said Domínguez, as the consultation period for the ERE will last until June 4. This Wednesday, the workforce will demonstrate through the streets of Sant Sadurní, from the group's headquarters to the City Hall, where they will be received by representatives of the council. In fact, the municipal government has called on Freixenet to reconsider the ERE. Likewise, on Thursday, workers' representatives are scheduled to appear before the Catalan Parliament's labor committee, so the unions have also called for a protest outside the chamber in Barcelona.