The industrial crisis in Tucumán has added a new chapter with the definitive closure of the Panpack SA plant, located in the town of Los Nogales. The company, dedicated to the production of polypropylene raffia fabrics, bags, threads and tapes, informed its workers on Saturday that it was ceasing operations, leaving about 70 employees on the street, most of them with more than 20 years of seniority at the firm.
The union delegate of the Union of Plastics Workers and Employees (Uoyep), Juan Catalán, confirmed that around 70 operators and administrative staff were dismissed. "On Saturday, the general management from Buenos Aires informed us that they were going to send the telegrams and that the factory was closing. Today we faced the reality: it was like that," he said. The telegrams began to arrive on Monday, although partially, notifying the "definitive closure of the plant" and the "total cessation of operations".
The decision, according to the company, "responds to the deep and sustained drop in sales that forced it to file for preventive bankruptcy", which is being processed in a National Commercial Court of Buenos Aires. The staff acknowledged that the drop in production was not surprising. "It is true that it had been declining," Catalán admitted. The decline began a little over two years ago, when the import of cheaper bags from abroad was allowed with greater force. "Cheaper merchandise begins to enter and that is where the fall begins. You cannot compete with those prices," he said.
The factory was completely paralyzed. The employees showed up yesterday morning and tried to enter the premises to find out about the situation, but they could not because the gate was closed. "No one was left inside. We are all on the street," Catalán summed up. The company, with about 50 years of history, had staff with extensive experience. "There are many people with more than 30 and even 40 years of work. The average seniority is 20 years and above," detailed the union representative.
Regarding salary obligations, the workers indicated that the company had agreed to pay the vacation in four installments since January, but there are still pending amounts. "They still haven't finished paying us the third installment. There is one more and the second half of February, which we worked," explained the union delegate. After re-establishing contact with management, they were assured that the outstanding salaries and indemnities would be paid, although without fixed deadlines.
The Panpack case adds to the crisis that different companies are going through in Tucumán, such as the textile companies, which stopped their activities due to the current economic situation in the country. The drop in domestic demand and the opening of imports hit hard a sector that, like plastics, sees how local production becomes unviable in the face of prices it cannot match. The union will begin to analyze the dismissal telegrams to make the corresponding submissions to the Ministry of Labor, while the workers await responses and the payment of what is owed.
