Danone

Danone has announced a plan to close its sites at Casale Cremasco (Italy), Hagenow (Germany) and Budapest (Hungary) that will lead to the loss of 100, 70, and 155 jobs in each respective site. The group explains that a European wide fall in sales in dairy products has hit three countries particularly hard. "While European sales volumes now show signs of gradual improvement", adds the company management, "the group’s Fresh Dairy Products division in Europe has seen overall business fall back, with local cases of surplus capacity". The activities of these three plants will be shifted to Belgium, Poland, Germany and France. Danone intends to take appropriate social action and identify potential solutions for the employees who will be affected by the closures. This project will be fully implemented by mid-2015. The European Works Council of Danone and the international union UITA have denounced the decision. The European Works Council has decided to launch research into these closures. In February 2013 the group announced a plan to cut 900 positions across the company’s management and administration staff in 26 European countries by 2015.