Almost 600 workers are spread across two companies in Viana that are experiencing a situation of labor conflict that in recent days has left a trace of concern both in the neighboring Navarrese town and in Logroño and its surroundings. Not in vain, around … 200 of the 400 employees of the Mondelez biscuit company – formerly Marbú – and around 140 of the 180 operators of Papelera del Ebro-Saica Pack are of Rioja origin.
In the plant dedicated to making sweets and snacks, there has been an indefinite strike since Monday that, for the moment, has production “completely paralyzed.” The firm that manufactures corrugated cardboard is also planning a ‘sine die’ strike tomorrow, unless the situation is reversed. “There is an agreement negotiation in both companies and at the moment the parties are not reaching agreements,” summarizes the mayor of Viana, the socialist Yolanda González.
“I have spoken with the management and unions of Mondelez (formerly Marbú) and I believe they will iron out their differences”
Yolanda Gonzalez
Mayor of Viana
«The connection between Riojan workers and our municipality has always been great, also the other way around»
Yolanda Gonzalez
Mayor of Viana
This situation “generates some concern”, but the councilor also believes that the current “postures of force” maintained by the parties – management on the one hand and committee on the other – are part of the usual scenario. “The unions demand what they consider to be theirs and the company resists,” she adds.
But from there to thinking about a more serious situation – a drastic approach by multinational companies in the form of layoffs or production transfers – is not within what is foreseeable for González. “Because both Mondelez and Papelera del Ebro are two companies with tradition in Viana, very present in our daily lives and very involved in the life of the town,” he says. This leads him to think positively, about a “solution to conflicts that favors both parties.” “I think that’s what everyone is looking for.”
Police deployment
However, in the case of ancient Marbú the differences are great. And, at least as far as it transcends public opinion, there is not much harmony between the company and the committee. The unions yesterday criticized the “exaggerated and disproportionate presence” of the Civil Guard – a dozen vehicles and about 40 troops, according to their accounts. “We don’t know what they intend with this deployment, whether to intimidate the staff or what,” they criticized the committee.
The mayor of Viana was with the workers on the first day of the strike on Monday and has also spoken with the director of the Mondelez plant. «Each party has explained their opinion to me, I believe that it will be possible for them to iron out their differences. “We are going to help as much as possible,” says Yolanda González, who highlights the “important” presence of Riojan workers. «There has always been a very strong connection between people from Logroño and Viana, also vice versa. “I myself have been working in Logroño for 32 years before becoming Mayor,” she concludes.
The Ebro Papelera committee calls off its concentration
The concentration that the Papelera del Ebro-Saica Pack works committee had called for yesterday in order to prepare an indefinite strike in protest of the “blockade in the negotiation of the agreement” was demobilized after the movement that the management of the company. Those responsible for the plant dedicated to producing corrugated cardboard – which works for different sectors such as food, footwear and wineries – have summoned union representatives to a meeting after learning of the call for an indefinite strike, scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday.
This strike has not yet been suspended given that the workers’ representatives want to know what the intentions and commitments of Papelera del Ebro are. Because to date “our proposals” that they bring to the negotiation table are not being taken into account and that are “basic, realistic and perfectly acceptable on their part.” They basically refer to the increase in the CPI “so as not to lose purchasing power” and the rejection of flexibility that “the company’s management wants to impose on the workforce in an unjustified manner.”
#Argentina
