Still in shock after the “unexpected” announcement on Friday night that Siro will “paralyze” “productive activity” in all its plants in the coming days – two in the Palencia town of Venta de Baños, another in Aguilar de Campoo and one in Toro, Zamora, in addition to another smaller one in El Espinar (Segovia)– after the investment partner “is not in a position to close the operation” that saves the company after the “no” of the workers to the plan of competitiveness, the employees of the biscuit maker do not give up. This Sunday, at noon, concentration in Venta de Baños, the factory for which the 'salvation' proposal proposes the closure. And on Wednesday, an appointment with the president of the Junta de Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, to address the situation of the company, whose imminent stoppage could affect the 1,420 workers distributed among the five factories -197 fixed in the factory put into operation el punto de mira and another forty from auxiliary companies–.
They do not rule out also mobilizing that day before the Cortes, although not all the workers' representatives had it clear this Saturday. The idea would be to do it also coinciding with the ordinary plenary session in Parliament. Yesterday they did value as something "positive" the call by the president of the regional Executive to address a situation that "is getting worse." “It is good that he receives us and we can express all our fear to him,” says the president of the Siro works council in the town of Venta, María del Mar Rodríguez, in statements to Ical. At the meeting they will request "maintenance" of the jobs.
«We will ask you to do what you have to do to guarantee the maintenance of employment, because the Venta de Baños plant is productive, as we have demonstrated until four days ago. People have to stay there working. We need the Board to lend a hand and help, because the closure would be a blow to the entire region," says Rodríguez. "It would be a terrible blow to the region if it is not like that," he warns.
Representatives of the workers from the different Siro plants in Castilla y León will attend the appointment on Wednesday with the president of the Board with the intention of seeking solutions that prevent the closure of the factories. The presidents of the four company committees hope that at this meeting the aid offered by both the regional government and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism to avoid the disappearance of the emblematic biscuit brand will materialize.
The representative of the Toresana staff, María José de la Iglesia, indicates that they will postpone the holding of assemblies and the call for mobilizations until after that meeting, to which only the members of the committees will attend. The meeting will analyze the options that may exist, the institutional support that can be given and the possible alternatives that avoid the stoppage of production in all the Siro plants in Spain announced by the company after the staff rejected the feasibility set as a condition for the entry of new investors that alleviate the economic situation of the company.
For the moment, despite the fact that the workers were informed this Friday of the stoppage of the plants through an internal communication, the Toro factory continued its production normally this Saturday, according to the Church, and hopes to continue like this starting on Tuesday, after the stoppage of production that is usually carried out on Sundays and that will also continue on Monday as it is a local holiday in Toro.
«I hoped that they would try to negotiate under conditions what was going to happen with the Venta de Baños biscuit plant, and that they would resume the negotiations to analyze where they had failed so that this competitiveness plan would not go ahead. It has been a surprise », underlines the president of the works council in this factory, who, for her part, does not rule out intensifying the calendar of mobilizations, although pending agreement with the other plants.
The president of the company committee of the Toro factory points out that although the fear of closure among the workforce was always present, the workers have not finished believing the communication announcing the stoppage of production. She also admitted that she does not know if there is room to redirect the situation because they have not spoken to the company's management again after the announcement of the closure, but she trusts that they can go back and count on the support of the institutions.
«Everything sounds like a total deception, because we were part of a viability plan in which they counted on us and on us continuing to grow. We were only able to negotiate the closing of the plant on Monday and an hour on Tuesday, and suddenly they told us that they are taking all the activity from here (they are not talking about closing the plant) and that they are willing to transfer the workers, but in conditions that are unacceptable. There has been no further negotiation," complains María del Mar Rodríguez.
On the other hand, both the president of the Zamora Provincial Council, Francisco José Requejo, and the mayor of Toro, Tomás del Bien, expressed their hope that the situation could be redirected. Meanwhile, from the PSOE they have requested the appearance of the Ministers of Agriculture, Gerardo Dueñas, and Industry, Mariano Veganzones, to explain the actions before Siro's announcement. Precisely this Saturday Dueñas has demanded, from Palencia, a "last effort" to improve the conditions for workers and avoid a stoppage of production.
