Luis Ceriotto
04/28/2021 6:01 AM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 04/28/2021 6:01 AM
The owners of the Dánica brand, who last week
announced the closure of their dressing factory located in San Luis
, do not rule out moving the factory to the territory of the province of
Córdoba
and opening it with new personnel and
another collective bargaining agreement
.
This was pointed out by spokespersons for the company, which is part of
the Beltrán Group
, of Cordoba origin.
Last week, after the announcement of closure by the company, the Ministry of Labor of the Nation intervened, which tried to bring positions between the company AVEX SA (the company name of Dánica) and the subsidiary of the
Villa Mercedes
Aceiteros
union.
, Saint Louis.
But after two hours of meeting, on Friday,
there was no rapprochement
.
The so-called Beltrán Group (on the Internet it is presented as
GB
) groups together a
dozen
meat processing plants
throughout the country, specialized in both slaughter and the
refining
business of
animal fat
, which it sells as an input to the food industry.
This group bought in 2018 the Dánica brand and its two factories, in
Llavallol
, where the traditional margarine is produced, and the San Luis town of
Villa Mercedes
, where they make mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup and other dressings, with the brands Dánica, Doña Flora and d'Fiesta, among others.
The seller was the Brazilian company
BRF
, which at that time was liquidating its assets to leave the country.
The Dánica factory in Villa Mercedes, San Luis.
Since the new owners took the reins, they requested that Dánica employees
change their union status
and move from the
Aceiteros
to the
Food
union
, whose salaries are
lower
.
This requirement by Avex generated a conflict situation in the two factories that continued throughout 2019 and last year. In the case of Llavallol, in March this year there was an
agreement
between the company and the Aceiteros union (SOEIA). Llavallol workers are still framed within this union, but in the company they assured that the signed agreement agreed to salaries "
just a little higher
" than those paid in the Food union.
In the case of Dánica San Luis, on the other hand,
there was no agreement
with the union's subsidiary and the company announced last week the
closure
of the factory. In his statement, he blamed the Aceiteros union for having forced the situation, but not only due to a cost issue, but also denounced
"sabotage"
by the Villa Mercedes subsidiary of the union.
“An erroneous union framing of the activity and a
violent and irascible
union representation
that has excessively radicalized labor relations (even perpetrating sabotage in the production lines)
have made the maintenance of operations
in said at the plant
unfeasible
, with the consequent shortage of supplies of products in the gondolas throughout the country, "Avex said in its statement.
The owner of the Aceiteros subsidiary in Villa Mercedes is
Juan José Domínguez
, who had claimed not so much for the closure of the company, but for
paying double compensation
to the 105 unionized workers.
“For 32 years this company has paid (the agreement of) Aceiteros.
If the company wants to leave, let it do what the law says, pay 200%
.
Let him pay double compensation to be able to leave, ”said Domínguez.
According to sources who participated in the meeting on Friday at the Ministry of Labor of the Nation, both the company and the union
each remained in their position
.
AVEX / Beltrán requested the opening of a closing procedure that enables it to
pay compensation at 50%.
One of the complaints that Domínguez had made was that the Beltrán Group wanted to close the San Luis factory "to open another in Córdoba", with workers within the Food union.
The company not only did not deny the union member:
they
agreed with
him
.
"It's in the calculations, it
's an alternative,
" Avex spokesmen said about that possibility.
“It is not the easiest, fastest or most convenient scenario.
But the seasoning industry has a future and it is clear that the San Luis union does not care if we close the factory there ”.
According to these spokespersons, the parity signed by the Oil Workers' union, between salary increases and additional bonuses, establishes a
total increase of 70%
.
“It is a perfect storm. In addition to the 70% salary increase, we cannot increase prices above the Maximum Prices set, since our brand is in the lowest price segment in the gondolas. And at the same time, the price in dollars of international commodities rose. These factors, added to the sabotage, determined the decision of the closure ”, they added.
