Freixenet and unions agree to reduce the ERE with early retirements and voluntary departures.

BarcelonaThe unions and the management of the Freixenet Henkell bank closed this Wednesday a preliminary agreement that reduces the number of layoffs planned in theemployment regulation file (ERE) filed by the company last month. Thus, from the initial 180 layoffs, the maximum will be 154, giving priority to early retirements and voluntary departures. The agreement was validated by the entire workforce at a meeting this Wednesday.

Of the total of 154 layoffs, 99 will occur at Freixenet and 55 at the Segura Viudas wineries, owned by the group. According to a statement from the Workers' Commissions (CCOO), the majority union in the group's works councils, this preliminary agreement "will minimize the impact of the ERE with non-traumatic measures." With the green light in the text agreed upon by the majority of the workforce, the unions called off the strike as of this Wednesday at 10 p.m.

The preliminary agreement provides that employees under 55 who voluntarily leave the company will receive severance pay of 50 days per year worked, with no limit on monthly payments. Employees over 55 who have been with the company for at least ten years will be part of a support plan if they meet the criteria for early retirement. Thus, those between 55 and 58 will receive "a monthly supplement to unemployment benefits of up to 75% of gross salary" until they turn 63. This supplement will be 80% for employees between 59 and 61, and in both cases will be revalued by 2% annually. "The company will also enter into a special agreement with Social Security for this group from 61 to 63 years of age," adds the CCOO statement.

"For those aged 61 or older as of December 31, who take early retirement, they will receive compensation of 30 days per year, with a maximum of 24 monthly payments, and a maximum limit of €75,000 gross," the statement said.

If early retirement and voluntary departures do not cover the total number of planned layoffs, the document agreed upon by the company and the committee provides that workers who lose their jobs against their will will receive compensation equivalent to unfair dismissal, with a minimum compensation of €10,000. If they are under 55, they may also receive "the services of an outplacement company, as well as the right to preferential hiring for two years in the event of a vacancy."

For its part, Freixenet said in a statement that it "has approached the entire process with a deep awareness of the impact on employees and their families and is committed to managing the necessary changes with social responsibility." "The agreed plan represents an important step in ensuring the long-term future of Freixenet, while preserving its deep connection to its roots in the region," the company added.

Freixenet had filed a collective redundancy plan in April affecting 180 employees in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia (Alt Penedès), where the company is headquartered. The company had initially ruled out accepting early retirements in order to avoid the Telephone clause, which requires companies that take early retirement during a collective redundancy plan to compensate the state, and had only expressed willingness to reduce the number of layoffs if around thirty employees were transferred to the group's production centers in Germany and Italy. Since 2018, the majority of Freixenet's shares have been controlled by the German wine company Henkell, a subsidiary of the multinational food company Geschwister Oetker.

Transfer of production to other countries

The unions' main criticism of the measure has been that, since the drop in grape production in the Penedès region due to the drought of the last three years, Henkell has reduced production of Carta Nevada cava and has created a sparkling wine for the German market with a very similar bottling, which is also made with grapes from Castilla-La Mancha. Furthermore, this new sparkling wine lacks the Cava Designation of Origin (DO) seal, because it is produced four months later instead of the twelve required by the DO regulations. The works council believes that, with the end of the drought, Freixenet has no reason to maintain this situation and demands that Carta Nevada be produced again with the DO Cava seal.

The unions went on strike last week and this Tuesday they extended the strike -which has had 100% support- for ten more days. They also demonstrated in the streets of Sant Sadurní, where they received public support from the City Council, and in front of the Catalan Parliament.

The president of the Freixenet company committee, Antonio Domínguez, threatened to take the ERE to court to determine whether there were legal grounds to go ahead. At the end of 2024, the group already submitted a temporary employment regulation file (ERTO) arguing that the drought had affected the group's operations, but the Generalitat (Catalan government) denied it. It was approved in a second attempt a few weeks later, in which Freixenet presented different arguments.