The business organizations Anice and Fecic, along with the unions CCOO and UGT, announced on Wednesday, November 11, the cancellation of the final two days of strike action in the Spanish meat industry, scheduled for November 12 and 13, after reaching significant progress in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.
The four organizations expect to sign a preliminary agreement on November 12, which would bring an end to the labor dispute that has caused major disruptions to slaughterhouse operations over the past three days.
The decision comes after a third day of the strike, marked by its overlap with the general strike on November 11, which has brought the meat industry to a standstill across much of the country. The main problems have been at access points to facilities and on roads, with pickets and blockades hindering the transport of pigs, sows, piglets, meat, and processed products. The geographical impact has been similar to that of previous days, although exacerbated by the widespread nature of the strike.
In the pig farming sector, the accumulated restrictions of the past three days have led to significant cancellations of slaughtering operations and delays in the removal of animals from farms. Once activity resumes, it will be necessary to assess the volume of slaughter lost and the consequences for slaughterhouse scheduling and livestock movements.
According to a joint statement from Anice, Fecic, CCOO, and UGT, the talks held on Wednesday have brought positions closer and moved closer to a mutually agreed solution. The four organizations emphasized the effort made in dialogue and shared the desire to reach an agreement that addresses the needs of both workers and companies, bringing stability to the sector.
For their part, the CCOO and UGT unions have confirmed the cancellation of the strike as a gesture of goodwill, considering that the terms of the future preliminary agreement are closer to their main demands. These include guaranteeing purchasing power through a salary review linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), reducing working hours, and improving leave policies, workplace health and safety, and work pace.
The lifting of the strike will allow slaughterhouses and meat processing plants to resume normal operations, after three days of significant restrictions. However, the recovery of slaughter rates will have to address the backlog in livestock shipments and meat product distribution.
Veterinary assistants in Catalonia are also returning to work
The cancellation of the meat industry strike also means the return to work of veterinary assistants in Catalonia, whose absence had particularly complicated the activity of Catalan slaughterhouses in recent days.
These workers had not called an independent strike, but had joined the meat sector’s mobilization. Therefore, with the latter’s strike being called off, their participation in the strike also ends.
However, the conflict involving Catalan veterinary assistants remains unresolved. The workers are maintaining their demands regarding job transfer and negotiations with the Catalan government, and they are not ruling out calling their own strike if no progress is made.
With the cancellation of the protests, the meat industry now faces the challenge of recovering normal production levels and absorbing the delays accumulated during three days of very limited activity, especially in the pork sector, where it is a priority to restore the slaughter rates and the release of animals from farms.
