Bimbo announced yesterday the closure of its Valladolid factory, which directly employs 166 workers and 40 subcontractors. This was announced during a meeting that was supposedly “ordinary” at the works council, whose members expressed their “categorical rejection”. The news reached the Junta de Castilla y León in the afternoon by email, whose Minister of Industry, Commerce and Employment, Leticia García, He acknowledged that it was a “worrying” situation.
While waiting for the official notification to the Territorial Labor Office of Valladolid, García has already advanced that They are working “to see if the decision can be reversed” and stressed that the protocol for companies in crisis will be applied to seek “solutions” to closures or relocations.
An “unexpected” communication, according to the president of the works council, Félix Fernández (CCOO), who assured that in the face of what was proposed, they remained “blank”. It was the national manager of operations and the head of human resources who, “without further explanation”, announced the closure of the plant located in the industrial zone of San Cristóbal.
According to the unions, Bimbo denounces the “low production” of the various Spanish factories to carry out this movement. However, the unions have defended that the factory is “totally viable” because in Valladolid “no bad economic indicators have been registered, in addition to the fact that the workers of this factory register the lowest wages compared to the rest of the factories in Spain.”
“We are not aware of anything,” lamented Fernández, who criticized the fact that the company “has not” proposed a feasibility plan or measures. Yes, an appointment on the 25th in which the negotiation committee will be formed and a minimum period of 30 days of consultations on the ERE (Employment Regulation File) will be opened. However, the president of the works council affirmed that “the company explains the real causes of the closure” and “there is a kind of approach to avoid layoffs.” His intention is to “manage to maintain the viability of the Valladolid plant” and “avoid 200 workers being left on the street.” Otherwise, they will negotiate other measures such as transfers, compensation or early retirement.
If the closure is confirmed, it would join others already executed by Bimbo in Spain in El Vergel (Alicante) or Paracuellos (Madrid). In Castile and León, it has another factory that it bought two years ago from Siro in Medina del Campo (Valladolid), but it is responsible for manufacturing different products. In addition to contacting institutions such as the Valladolid City Council or the Commission, the works council has held meetings with the workers of the factory, which produces some of the brand’s best-known products such as Donuts, Pepitos, Donettes, Trigretón and Mini Bollycaos.
