On December 16, after having another disagreement with the employers regarding the collective agreement of the sector, the citrus pickers' unions resumed their indefinite strike in the Valencian Community.
The Citrus Management Committee, which mainly represents the employers, has declined to make statements regarding the first day of the strike, but most operators in the sector that were interviewed agree that the level of pickers that answered the call to strike wasn't very high and that it varied a lot depending on the union implementation in each production area.
Information pickets in the field. Image published by CC. OO on its Twitter feed.
The citrus sector is going through a rough patch, as the harvest so far has been much lower than expected at the beginning of the campaign because of the losses caused by pests and rains. The abundant rainfall of the last few days in much of Spain has led to a considerable reduction in activity in the countryside.
"At the moment, the strike has had a certain level of impact on the harvest, but the consequences of the rains of the last few days in the Valencian Community are more noticeable than the strike because the strike just began a few hours ago," stated Nacho Juarez, of the citrus sales department of the Valencian cooperative Anecoop. "We've noticed that the call to strike had a better answer in the province of Castellon, which produces the most clementines and mandarins, as well as, to a lesser extent, in the interior of the province of Valencia."
Pickets at The Natural Fruit's packaging plant on the morning of December 16. Image published by CC. OO on its Twitter feed.
The strike is carried out through pickets that prevent the collection in some areas, as well as at the door of some citrus handling and packaging plants, in order to stop the trucks from entering or leaving the facilities. No violent altercations have been reported so far. When they heard of the call to strike, many of the cooperatives and production and marketing companies increased their stocks in their warehouse. As a result, the marketing activity continues with relative normality.
Compared to other Spanish production areas, the Valencian Community produces a higher percentage of clementines and mandarins so if the strike lasts too long there could be supply failures of these products in the markets, which, in themselves, are not over-supplied.
"A large part of the Christmas supply programs have already been sent to destinations in central and northern Europe, given the prediction of problems due to rains and strikes. However, there is a lot of tension in the sector because supply is limited," Nacho Juarez stated. "The continuous rainfall has affected the quality of the clementines and their maturation process, especially the Clemenules, which are ending earlier due to the significant decreases. The temperatures in autumn were higher temperatures than usual and there's been an increase in the presence of pests that has drastically reduced production. Technically, it's a fairly complex year at field level.”