The very bad performance numbers for the “real economy” are already translated into stories of ordinary workers who face the job uncertainty and layoffs, in addition to the long negative trajectory that accumulates in terms of salaries. This Thursday it was learned that the company Akapol, which manufactures the products Voligoma, La Gotita, Poxipol, Poxilina, Poxi-Ran and Fastix, suspended the 150 employees of its factory located in Zelaya, in the northern part of the province of Buenos Aires, for 60 days.
Given the collapse in sales and the consequent accumulation of stocks, the company decided completely stop production and pay only a part of their workers’ salaries. In the plant there are only “personnel outside the agreement and office.” The factory that is now in suspension dates back to 1972.
Panic Show
Akapol is already part of a few large companies that are applying strong suspensions in the face of the current depressive context of the national economy. One of them is the historical FV, faucet manufacturer. In that case, the suspension scheme consists of 26 days with the collection of 80 percent of the salary for the affected workers. “They are selling between 3 and 5 tons a day, when you have to manufacture 15″Mariano Hessling, delegate of the Metallurgical Workers Union (UOM) union, explained days ago. The measure affects 740 workers in the production area.
Another notable case is that of the appliance firm Whirlpool, which fired 60 workers from its Pilar plant and is also implementing a suspension plan. In relation to that decision, Juan Carlos Puente, president of the firm for the region, described that “dSince the December devaluation, demand for white goods fell significantly. For this reason, we are going two to one shift in Pilar. The size and duration of the decrease was surprising, we prepared for a scenario and the reality was different in the first quarter.”
More examples. Fateone of the three factories that produce tires in Argentina, announced the dismissal of 97 employees; while the group ArcelorMittal, owner of Acindar, paralyzed its Villa Constitución plant for the second time this year. “I have been working in this company for 20 years and I have never seen a stoppage of these characteristics,” said Pablo González, general secretary of the UOM Villa Constitución.
This week the situation of the textile factory Textilcom was also known, which confirmed the closure of its Catamarca plant, measure that leaves 134 workers without jobs. “The company is closing due to lack of customer orders. Unfortunately, the lack of sales is killing us, and this is the result of the current economy of the country“he assured Jorge Roldán, manager of the textile factory.
Meanwhile, the multinational PepsiCo confirmed the dismissal of 36 of its 400 workers of its Mar del Plata plant, while automakers General Motors, Toyota and Renault advance with voluntary retirement plans.
To make matters worse, the few initiatives that the libertarian government presents in labor and industrial matters They could even worsen the situation. On the one hand, the RIGI raised in the BASES Law, as the businessmen themselves warn, implies harm to the national industry in the face of imports; for the other, labor flexibility that is intended to be approved, in such a recessive context, could trigger layoffs.
