The Association of Workers and Employees of Conaprole (AOEC) resolved to work according to regulations starting today, while next Friday they will hold a two-hour assembly in each shift and at all the company’s plants in Uruguay to define how to continue the process of struggle.
After denouncing that Conaprole sought to deepen the conflict instead of solving it —a conflict that began after the reorganization of shifts and tasks that the company tried to impose “without consultation”, after incorporating new machinery and a new form of production at the production plant. Villa Rodríguez—; The workers grouped in AOEC did not reach a satisfactory agreement during yesterday’s bipartite meeting, so the previously announced forceful measures were put in place: starting at 0:00 today, work began according to regulations, assemblies in the all plants and stoppages of two hours per shift.
On the other hand, on Wednesday the 17th there will be a Extraordinary general assembly which could imply greater measures of force.
For the moment, the union reiterated its “commitment” to receive all the milk that the producers send these days as well as to process the existing raw material to avoid losses in production and shortages of fresh milk for the population.
However, from AOEC they advance that measures may cause delays and they admit that, “naturally”, there will be affectation, to the extent that the conflict spreads, in the majority of the products that are distributed in the market: yogurts, desserts, flans, gelatin, lactolate, half-life milk and cheeses, among others.
For his part, the company continues to insist that the union “is not telling the truth”. During yesterday’s meeting, Conaprole representatives defended the investment in a new milk bottling plant at the Rodríguez plant, and pointed out that “no jobs are affected, no labor rights are affected, and no regulatory framework is violated.” “. In this sense, the “peace clause” was not broken either, as the workers affirm; and the channels of dialogue were kept open.
“Once again, the union leadership seeks to impose a logic of permanent conflict in an unjustified and irresponsible manner, compromising the work of thousands of Uruguayans and the sustainability of the entire dairy chain,” the company concluded in a statement.
The story of a conflict
The union conflict began after Conaprole invested in the Rodríguez plant and incorporated new packaging machines, with the capacity to 15,000 liters per hour. This led to The company will propose a rescheduling of shifts and the forms of work, something that the union opposed, as they considered that the changes were made without prior negotiation.
Conaprole, for its part, published a statement last week in which it assures that it is open to negotiations and a “productive, mature and constructive dialogue that defends the entire dairy chain”. On the other hand, he described the conflict as “unfair and inexplicable” since, supposedly the company, this new machinery will not cause job losses and will not affect the salary or working conditions of the workers.
In this sense, they added that “the workers of the UHT sector work in regime of 9 hours from Monday to Friday, with incomes well above the national average” and took advantage of the fact that “despite this, they have very high levels of absenteeism.”
Source: Ambito
