According to reports, a group of dairy workers from Chile who are protesting have taken control of Fonterra’s Prolesur factory in Los Lagos, southern Chile, and are accusing it of being exploitative.
A source with knowledge of the situation verified local press accounts that an early protest had escalated and that workers and members of the Mapuche indigenous population had taken control of the factory, preventing any access.
The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware of the situation, according to a ministry official.
“Protest activity at the Prolesur facility in Los Lagos is known to MFAT. According to the spokesperson, there is no evidence that anyone is in danger or that foreigners, including New Zealanders, are in danger.
Requests for comment from Fonterra did not immediately receive a response.
The dairy behemoth, which combined Prolesur and Soprole in the beginning of 2021, has declared its intention to sell the enterprise, which has a potential value of $800 million. It might give an update at the annual earnings result next week.
More than 200 members of the Chilterra employees’ union and Mapuche leaders staged a protest against the business at the beginning of this week, calling for a working group with corporate executives to address the issue. They claim that the unfair milk price, which does not cover costs, is partly to blame for this. According to Chilterra, the number of dairy farms in Chile has decreased from 20,000 to 4,000 during the past ten years.
The union alleged in a public statement that firms like Soprole (Fonterra) and Nestlé “impose arbitrary constraints on farmers, producing a cycle of difficulties that end up harming workers, because of the impact of low milk prices on pay and, in extreme circumstances, on job stability.”
The union claimed it is striving to highlight the discrepancy between the price given to producers abroad and the price paid to producers in Chile by multinational corporations.
Chilterra, a collection of farms, is a significant supplier to Prolesur and one of the biggest producers in the country. However, the business is currently experiencing severe financial problems.
Union representatives claim that Fonterra is to responsible for the company’s problems since it continuously paid a low milk price.
The insider claimed that “Fonterra’s days in Chile are numbered, and they will lose their millions of dollars in investment.”
Workers have taken over the plant, according to union leader Erwin Huentrepan, who spoke to Rio En Linea.
In order to put pressure on the employer, he declared, “We are going to take control of the company at the access points and part of the operations.”
“By any means, no truck leaves or enters.” According to him, the protesters did permit the plant personnel to remove their vehicles first.
