Staff have so far received few responses, according to a meeting on Saturday between site management and worker representatives. For the week which will begin this Monday, April 11, the situation resulting from Afsca’s decision does not change much because a week off was planned for a long time for the workers of the factory. But what regarding next? “From the Tuesday following Easter (i.e. April 19, editor’s note), maintenance and cleaning work is planned. This will occupy some of the staff, but we do not yet know how many workers. That is why we have asked management a work plan”, says Sylviane Arnould, of the CSC Alimentation.
After that, everything will depend on the date of reopening of the factory in Arlon. The Afsca explained that it would only authorize the reopening of the site following having been able to conclude that the establishment meets all the food safety rules and requirements.
“The company assures us that it is doing everything possible to be able to restart quickly, but the workers will have to be patient. There will probably be temporary unemployment for some of the company’s staff, which will represent a financial loss for the workers concerned” , continues Sylviane Arnould.
On Saturday morning, the unions also asked management for better communication with company staff. They also called for a new information meeting to be held next week. The date of this meeting is not yet known.
According to Ferrero’s website, the Arlon factory, which opened in 1989, employs 725 people, but this number “can go up to 1,100 during seasonal peaks”. The eight production lines at the Arlon site produce almost 18 million Kinder Schoko-Bons, two million Kinder Surprises and four million Raffaellos every day. Almost all (96%) of the production is exported to 45 countries around the world.
