Domestic Trade Secretary seeks to manage meatpacking plants

By Lorena Hak

Domestic Trade Secretary Guillermo Moreno seeks both the government and the meatpacking plants workers to take control of the companies in the sector, which are to close down following the crisis in the agriculture industry. The official proposal aims to maintain and support the job placement in the sector after the protests held by meatpacking plant workers nationwide. However, the official proposal has triggered controversy among two different unions in the sector.

The secretary of FETSICARA meat-packing workers' union, Sixto Vallejos, yesterday confirmed to Ámbito Financiero that Domestic Trade Secretary Guillermo Moreno is committed to "take control of closed meatpacking plants and also take charge of those plants about to suspend operations, so as to maintain jobs."

Proposal

The official initiative gathered momentum after a series of meetings held between members of the Ministry of Agriculture, the ONCCA Agricultural Trade Control National Bureau, FESTICARA representatives, and the Union Federation of Beef Industry Workers.

Santa Fe province holds the exemplary case of this conflict. Fifteen days ago, Mattievich Meatpacking Company decided to shut down its plant in Carcarañá city and lay off 400 workers. Caracarañá's is the second meatpacking plant operated by Mattievich to close its doors within the space of a month. The company claims the decision was made as a result of a decline in exports and the amount of slaughtered livestock.

"We seek the plant to resume operations under the direct management of both the City Hall and the workers," Vallejos said.


Time is getting on after the closure announcement of three JBS Swift plants. Next Monday at 10am, meatpacking plant workers will meet with Domestic Trade Secretary Guillermo Moreno and businessmen of the sector to reach an agreement on an employee stock ownership plan.

"We have been worried about the unemployment rate in the sector for a long time. More than 10.000 workers in the sector are under an unstable employment situation," FETSICARA secretary added.

JBS, the world's largest meat producer, fails to find buyers for three of its eights meatpacking plants in Argentina, which are facing a livestock shortage that also triggered an escalation in prices in the domestic market.


Obstacles

JBS' last report warned that "the Argentine government's participation continues to narrow the results in the local market." However, JBS also faces other kind of obstacles in the USA, after it decided not to launch shares of stock onto the open market:

Following the aftermath of the severe drought in 2009 and the imposition of export restrictions, many Argentine farmers have decided to plant soybean, which is a more profitable crop.

"We seek to manage every closed meatpacking plant in Argentina, and we are going to achieve it by using the livestock that the government is to provide us. Nowadays, no meatpacking plant in Argentina is able to operate at 100% of capacity, but all of them can operate at 60-70% of capacity so as to avoid laying off employees," Vallejos told Ambito Financiero.


Translated by Jimena Gibert