Several ministries will hold a meeting with representatives of the National Beer Factory (FNC) with the objective of preventing or trying to reach an agreement regarding the closure of the plant in Mines which would leave 150 people unemployed and for which the union demands a response, however, it was not invited to the dialogue tables.
The government established two dialogue tables to address the situation of FNC. One of them corresponds to trying to solve the economic problem of the company that claims to have lost competitiveness in the market due to imports of beers from Argentina and Brazil, which would cause the closure of the plant in Minas.
The other dialogue table corresponds to giving a response to the company’s union regarding the possibility that 150 employees will be left without work in the event that the closure takes place. However, the union was not invited to Tuesday’s meetings.
The meeting with FNC will be made up of the main leaders of the Executive Branch portfolios. Among them, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), the Ministry of the Environmenthe Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM), the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS) and the president of UTE.
The FNC union on strike
Last Friday the union National Beer Factories (FNC) The strike began after the closure of the plant in Mines. The strike will be subject to the progress of the negotiation tables, with the possibility that it will be lifted if there is some type of agreement on the 150 jobs at stake, as anticipated. Fernando Ferreira, leader of the Federation of Beverage Workers and Employees (FOEB).
At a press conference, Ferreira described the last meeting with the company and the MTSS leaders as “positive”, although he clarified: “None of these actors, both company and union, leave aside their measures.”
When ratifying the forceful measures, he clarified that “they will be conditioned to be continually reviewed” and detailed: “If the progress satisfies the company and the union, the measures will be lifted according to how things are going. negotiating tables”.
Return of Imesi as a solution
The presence of the Ministry of the Environment is due to the fact that the government is analyzing reestablishing the return of the Imesi due to the use of returnable containers, a measure that was in force until 2021. Although it would currently come with modifications, it could improve the conditions of competitiveness from FNC.
In fact, the Minister of Labor, Mario Arizti, This Thursday, the good negotiating climate was highlighted, and the willingness of both parties to review their initial positions. The leader had anticipated that there is “a month and 15 days to try to move forward” and was optimistic: “If we move forward, we reach agreements, a capable closure will not occur.”
On the labor side, Arizti mentioned the unemployment insurance, a program of job reconversion and the flexibility in collective agreements as alternatives.
FNC alleged competitiveness problems
When announcing the closure of the plant, National Beer Factory referred to “problems of competitiveness” and focused on four factors, among them “the high production costs of Uruguay compared to other countries in the region.”
To that, the company added “the growing import of low-cost cans that reach values that are impossible to match with the current conditions in Uruguay for the national industry.”
Finally, FNC mentioned as a complication “the smaller scale of local production and low productivity”, but also “the tax pressure, which is especially distorting in returnable beers”, while pointing out a idle capacity of more than 50%, which makes the situation “unsustainable”.
Source: Ambito
