The administration of the Hellenic Sugar Industry announced that two of its five plants in Orestiada and Serres, northern Greece, will shut down.
It is expected that some employees of the two factories will be transferred to the only factory that will remain open, at Platy Imathias,while the administration will decide within the next months for the rest of the employees who will be out of work.
The president of the workers union, Christodoulos Varkakis said that employees will be given the option of joining a voluntary exit program. However the employees have expressed their opposition to this plan, noting that shutting the factories down does not justify a voluntary exit program, while they claim that the closing of the factories will lead to the de-industrialization of the two regions in Serres and Orestiada.
Varkakis noted that the closing of the two factories and the changes that will be made will save significant funds for the company, both through the use of cheaper fuel and the reduction of labor costs. Varkakis also explained that the two factories will save the company 8 million euros only by changing fuel for the operations, as the natural gas used today will be replaced by liquefied gas that costs less.
Regarding personel, Varkakis said that the employees who will remain with the company they will work in the harvesting of sugar beets and and will be transfering them in the plant located in Platy, in Imathia.
After their meeting with the CEO of the Hellenic Sugar Industry, Lambros Charalambous and the workers union, members of opposition party SYRIZA stated that the closing of the sugar factories in Serres and Orestiada will have a dramatic effect to the economy of these areas.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
