Spanish Consumers Hit By Transport Workers Strike
Spain News
Published: 18 March 2022 14:35 CET
A truck driver's strike for better pay and working conditions has started to cause disruption at Spanish supermarkets with reports of empty shelves and dairy producers complaining of milk shortages.
On Thursday, shoppers reported a shortage of perishable items on supermarket shelves as well as at fish markets and other food stores, due to the blockade which started on Monday.
The soaring cost of energy has only exacerbated the issue, with the cost of energy bills, fuel and gas for consumers increasing along with the price of food items, threatening to stall the post-pandemic economic recovery. Rising fuel costs are also having a major impact on truckers and other transportation workers.
Inlac, the Interprofessional Dairy Organisation has warned that the supply of dairy products to distribution chains is in danger as a result.
A spokesperson for Inlac said, “The dairy sector shares the impact of the unstoppable rise in fuel prices and respect for the right to strike, but calls for everyone’s responsibility not to paralyse the dairy sector or cause its collapse.
“The interruption in the circulation of trucks is endangering the supply of feed to farms, packaging, and materials to production plants, and the output of milk and other finished dairy products to supermarkets.
“Trucks with feed for livestock and other supplies cannot enter many farms while, on the other hand, manufacturers are being affected by their supply network of materials for packaging and the exit of products to the markets, as traffic is being interrupted in large areas of the Spanish state”, it added.
The statement from Inlac comes just one day after dairy manufacturers announced a halt to production from today.
The National Federation of Dairy Industries (Fenil) said that it had been forced to suspend activity due to the pickets which have turned violent in some regions.
On Thursday, March 17, the dairy sector has been joined by the producer and industrialist of poultry meat, which has demanded responsibility from the callers of the strike to avoid “serious problems” in the agri-food chain.
Avianza, the Interprofessional Association of Poultry Meat voiced its concern about the collapse in the transportation of goods which it says was “critically” affecting both the raising of poultry meat and the distribution of it to Spanish supermarket chains.
FIAB, the Spanish Federation of Food and Drink Industries has urged the government to act against the blockades that have put the supply chain at risk, compromising the supply of cattle feed to farms, packaging materials to factories and the flow of products to stores.
"We cannot let a violent minority hijack the rights of a majority who want to work," Mauricio Garcia de Quevedo, FIAB's head said.
Transport Minister Raquel Sanchez labelled the protest a "boycott linked to far-right groups", a link which Hernandez denied calling the Platform non-partisan. The Interior Ministry has reinforced security on the roads with 23,600 police officers to guarantee food supply.
Since the beginning of the strike on Monday, hundreds of tons of fish have been stuck at ports in the north of Spain. Aecoc, the Sea Products Committee of the employers demanded an end to the coercion and violent actions that were taking place against carriers who are not taking part in the action.
"Especially worrying is the situation in Galicia where deep-sea vessels are unloading their catches in ports and now they cannot redistribute merchandise destined for the whole country.
“We understand the demands of the transporters adhering to the strike in the sector, but the actions of the pickets are putting at risk the integrity of the professionals and the sale of fish in many Spanish markets. It is not tolerable that their actions harm an essential and strategic sector such as fishing", explained the president of the Aecoc Seafood Committee, Eduardo Míguez.
Source
https://www.abc.es/economia/abci-patronal-lactea-avisa-desabastecimiento-leche-esta-notando-supermercados-202203171131_noticia.html
https://euroweeklynews.com/2022/03/17/consumers-in-spain-already-being-affected-by-transport-workers-strike/
