SCA plant in Pratovecchio
7.5.2009
WRITTEN QUESTION E-3672/09
by Alessandro Battilocchio (PSE)
to the Commission
The SCA plant in Pratovecchio, Arezzo province, was originally set up on the initiative of some entrepreneurs in Casentino and was taken over in 2002 by SCA Hygiene Products, a subsidiary of the Swedish SCA group. The plant is near the Casentino Nature Park and has always sought to ensure that its manufacturing operations respect the local environment by using state-of-the-art production techniques. SCA Hygiene Products’ plant in Pratovecchio occupies 40 000 square metres, and comprises a paper mill and nine production lines employing 128 workers. The firm mainly produces personal hygiene products made of tissue paper. In 2008 the group’s annual production was 27 000 tonnes, with a turnover of EUR 50 million. SCA Hygiene Products has had no economic problems of any kind up to now, as it is a market leader in commercial sales of its products under the private labels of big companies such as CONAD (for which it is the sole supplier), COOP, FINIPER, ESSELUNGA and SUN. In meetings with trade union representatives, SCA has always denied that rumours about the possible closure of the plant had any foundation. On 27 March 2009, however, the company announced that it was making all 128 employees redundant due to the closing down of the plant. The company justified this action on the grounds that it needed to redistribute its operations across other plants in the Lucca region which are currently in crisis because of production losses and the relocation of production to third countries. Bearing in mind that the SCA’s code of ethics prescribes ‘good faith and mutual respect in all relations with employees and their workplace representatives’,
1. Does the EU consider that this behaviour by the SCA is compatible with the rights of employees enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union? Has the Commission so far planned any economic or other measures to assist workers who, like the employees of the Pratovecchio plant, suddenly find themselves without any stable income?
2. Do the national and/or supranational authorities plan to monitor and, if necessary, penalise firms which, despite the absence of unfavourable economic circumstances, dismiss as many as 128 employees without even holding the requisite negotiations with the workers’ trade unions?
OJ C 189, 13/07/2010