Freixenet workers extend strike against ERE due to lack of agreement with the company

BarcelonaThe workers of the Freixenet Henkell coal mine have decided to extend the strike until June 10. the strike that began a week ago to demand the withdrawal of the employment regulation file (ERE) filed by the company, which should entail the dismissal of approximately 180 workers, 24 percent of the workforce, according to a statement issued Tuesday by the Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) union, the majority union on the group's works council.

"The works councils of the Freixenet Group have decided to extend the strike in all workplaces until Tuesday, June 10," the statement reads. "There will be a total of 11 days of strikes, which so far have been fully followed by the workers at the different plants" of the company based in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia (Alt Penedès), the document adds.

A new meeting is taking place this Tuesday between union representatives and Freixenet management, the eighth since the announcement of the collective redundancy plan (ERE) in April. So far, the talks have yielded no results, and both sides maintain their positions: the Cavite group continues to want to cut staff, while the works council demands the withdrawal of the collective redundancy plan (ERE) and that, if there are to be employee departures, they should be voluntary or through early retirement. Likewise, the CCOO (Workers' Commissions) has demanded temporary solutions for the company's difficult situation rather than permanent ones such as laying off workers.

The expansion of the strike confirms what the unions had already indicated if negotiations were unsuccessful. In this regard, the statement also warns that if the talks continue to fail to provide solutions in the coming days, "the committees do not rule out calling for new mobilizations and protest actions." Last Wednesday, Freixenet workers demonstrated in the streets of Sant Sadurní—where they received support from the mayor and all the city council groups—and on Thursday they gathered in front of the Catalan Parliament to demand political support from the political parties. During the protest in Barcelona, ​​​​the president of the Freixenet company committee, Antonio Domínguez, announced that the unions They are considering taking the ERE to court. to determine "whether there is cause" to present it.

Castled negotiations

Freixenet, which since 2018 has held the majority stake in the German wine group Henkell (a subsidiary of the multinational food company Geschwister Oetker), already filed for temporary employment regulation (ERTO) at the end of last year due to the impact caused by the drought on grape production. Although an initial attempt was denied by the Generalitat (Catalan government), it was finally granted, citing other operational reasons.

In April, however, the company's management informed the workforce that it would file a collective redundancy plan (ERE) to reduce the number of employees by 180. In one of the meetings between the company and unions, it was announced that the layoffs would involve employees under 50 years of age, as the company wanted to avoid the so-called Telefónica clause, the legal doctrine that obliges companies to compensate the state for early retirements under EREs. Freixenet subsequently offered to reduce the total layoffs if thirty employees agreed to be transferred to factories in Germany and Italy.

The works council, for its part, considers the ERE unjustified and criticizes the fact that a large part of the production of one of Freixenet's flagship products, Carta Nevada cava, has been transferred to Henkell plants in Italy and Germany. According to the unions, the product has been replaced by a sparkling wine with a very similar bottle and labeling, but which does not bear the Cava designation of origin (DO) label because it is produced in just four months instead of the twelve stipulated by the DO regulatory council. Domínguez believes that "there is no need to go to Germany" to produce cava, as it is a "product that identifies Catalonia."