The employees of the Ferrero plant in Arlon have many questions about their short-term future. On Friday, the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) withdrew the production license for the site due to 100 cases of salmonella contamination in Europe in recent weeks. So far, staff have received few answers, according to a meeting Saturday between site management and the unions.
For the week from Monday 11 April, the decision of the FASFC does not change the situation, as a week’s leave had been planned for the staff for a long time. “From the Tuesday after Easter (19 April) maintenance and cleaning work is planned. This will take some of the staff, but we don’t know how many employees yet. That is why we asked the management for a work plan”, says Sylviane Arnould (ACV Nutrition).
After that, everything will depend on the date of reopening of the Arlon factory. The FASFC indicated that it will only grant permission for reopening after the agency has been able to determine that the factory meets all food safety rules and requirements.
See also: The FASFC explains to HLN LIVE why the license of the Ferrero factory is temporarily withdrawn.
Financial loss
“The company assures us that it is doing everything it can to restart quickly, but employees will have to be patient. There will likely be temporary unemployment for some of the staff, which will mean financial loss for the workers involved,” said Sylviane Arnould.
The unions have also asked management to improve communication with staff. The unions called for a new information meeting next week. A date has not yet been announced.
According to Ferrero’s website, the Arlon factory, which opened in 1989, employs 725 people. At seasonal peaks, this can rise to 1,100. The eight production lines produce nearly 18 million Kinder Schoko-Bons, two million Kinder Surprises and four million Raffaellos every day. Almost all of the production (96 percent) is exported to 45 countries around the world.
Also read:
As transparent as a full jar of Nutella: Ferrero’s silence about salmonella in Kinder Surprise is no surprise †
How come Ferrero had known about salmonella for four months and Kinder Surprise eggs still remained in the store? “Heavy fines are expected for malicious intent” †
Also see:
Ferrero responds to salmonella outbreaks in VTM NEWS
FASFC: “Ferrero did not provide the right safety guarantees”
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