A queue of more than 30 Conaprole tanker trucks waiting to enter Plant No. 8 of the cooperative, in Rodríguezwhile the plant capacity is at full capacity: there are more than 3.2 million liters of milk accumulated. This situation of delay in deliveries and accumulation of unprocessed raw material occurred due to the workers conflict which led to two-hour strikes, this Sunday and this Monday in various shifts, and a 24-hour strike for this Tuesday.
Cooperative sources informed The Observer that the situation is “chaotic”.
The workers denounce that the company made changes in schedules and referred workers to other areas of the plant without reaching an agreement with the union. That’s why, This Tuesday they will hold a strike and will also discuss holding a national strikeWednesday and Thursday, which will affect the stock of products in the market.
Loss of raw material?
The delay in the entry of trucks to the Rodríguez plant has been taking place since early this Sunday morningcommented to The Observer Luis Goichea, member of the Association of Workers and Employees of Conaprole (AOEC). At dawn there was already a delay of between 15 to 20 trucks, and it is expected that the situation will become more complex in the afternoon.
Although the workers organized several strikes of two hours per shift at the Rodríguez plant, they assured that they will “minimum essential guards” so that there is no loss of raw materialGoichea said.
The delay in the entry of trucks to the plant will also affect the entire chainsince the trucks will take longer to go to the fields, which will imply complications for the tamberos.
Conaprole sources expressed their concern in dialogue with The Observergiven that the dairy is affected by the drought –considered by the producers as the worst in recent years– and the company has already had losses of US$ 100,000 due to this situation, which is added to a drop in international prices and difficulties at the level of competitiveness due to the drop in the exchange rate.
Conaprole’s word
Cooperative sources who spoke with The Observer they considered the conflict to be irrationalsince no worker lost their job, because there were no layoffs, but they were reassigned to other areas of the plant.
The union called for the mobility of these workers to other positions, considering that several are specialized in a task, and they were referred to “general jobs,” said Goichea.
In an internal company statement, to which he agreed to The Observerit is explained that the mobility of workers “maintains usual practices”, which implies temporarily reassigning UHT workers to tasks in cheese chambers.
In addition, the statement stated that: “The cooperative has not withdrawn from the scope of negotiation, on the contrary, it has requested to advance the tripartite instance (between the company, AOEC and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, scheduled for this Thursday )”.
In its statement, the company appealed to the reflection of the workers to avoid new economic damages. The cooperative called for “dialogue responsibly, valuing and caring for the sustainability of the entire dairy chain.”
