Lactalis dairy plant in Cardona on the verge of permanent closure

This week, within the framework of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, a new round of negotiations took place between representatives of the Lactalis company and the workers' unions at the industrial plants of the former Indulacsa in Cardona and Granja Pocha in Juan Lacaze, both belonging to the French group.

It's worth noting that Lactalis recently acquired the Granja Pocha dairy industry and decided to relocate the UHT milk production it had previously carried out in Cardona. This will result in the loss of 104 jobs in the town of Soriano, bordering the department of Colonia. The cessation of UHT milk processing in Cardona is scheduled for Friday the 15th.

Furthermore, this week Lactalis delivered more bad news for Cardona workers: it will not resume whey drying operations at that plant—which is currently paralyzed and the workers are on unemployment insurance—but will instead relocate the operation to the former Schreiber plant (now Integra), located in Ecilda Paullier and owned—among others—by Edgardo Villanueva, the businessman who until a few days ago was the owner of Granja Pocha.

This measure would entail the permanent closure of the former Indulacsa plant and a total loss of 150 jobs in Cardona, according to a report by Pablo Sesini, representative of the Granja Pocha Workers' Union (Sograp), to La Diaria.

A new meeting will be held at the Ministry of Social Security (MTSS) on Friday the 15th between the parties, in a context that appears to be certainly complicated for the continued existence of the dairy industry located in Cardona.