Assembly of 29 Decides to Close Rivera Dairy Plant

The industrial complex will shut its doors on Wednesday, August 20, instead of on October 31 as initially planned. "Throughout this period, we have maintained staffing levels and salary increases for the cooperative's workers, even though a significant number of producers have been lost, and despite the fact that today we receive the same price for milk in historical pesos as we did three years ago," states the communiqué. The cooperative, mainly composed of small and medium producers, "carries out activities with commitment, pride, and passion throughout the year, regardless of weather, without holidays, with great effort from our families."

It considers the actions taken by the union leadership as "very unfair and completely irrational," for they "ignore the context of the dairy industries producing in Uruguay," affecting producers' situations and diminishing the value of the many quality jobs that the cooperative generates both directly and indirectly. "We know that the vast majority of workers wish to work in peace, appreciate the working conditions offered, and are proud to be part of Conaprole. Finally, we call for reflection from all regarding the destruction of value and the attack on national production by the union leadership that aims to constantly impose conditions that are not viable for the sector, thus favoring imports of competitors and clearly endangering everyone's jobs," concludes the communiqué from the Assembly of 29.