Unions determined to find out what is going on at Pescanova, a major fisheries company in Europe and one of the largest Spanish transnationals in Latin America, are planning mass demonstrations on 4-5 May in Vigo, Spain, where the company is based.
When Spanish media reports claimed that the company was in a virtual state of bankruptcy with enormous debts, its shares fell almost 60 per cent. Workers’ requests for a meeting with management have been ignored andthey accuse the company of hiding information when thousands of jobs are atstake. In Vigo alone, Pescanova directly employs 1,500 people and indirectly a further 6,000.
The picture is equally worrying for 800 employees, many of them married couples, in XI region of Chile, where Pescanova is selling its subsidiary, Acuinova Salmon. Again, the company has not told them of its plans and they fear that the factory will close.
Spanish unions are calling for a commercial bankruptcy and restructuring plan, a national legal requirement when a company is planninglayoffs or asset stripping, so that workers know what is going on and will be protected.
Juan Trujillion, fisheries secretary at ITF affiliate Federacion de Servicios a la Ciudadania de CCOO (CCOO) and ITF regional chair for fisheries, commented: “Despite the financial difficulties of the multinational, the company is a prestigious brand. While we need to find out who is responsible for this situation, the key is to save the 15,000 direct and indirect jobs worldwide. In this regard, we have asked the judge to appoint receivers as soon as possible for stability and to begin to take steps in search of liquidity.”
Pescanova is the second largest fish processing in Europe and is among the top ten fishing groups worldwide.
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