A leading Spanish stonefruit producer has found itself the centre of unwanted media attention in the country after trade union UGT accused the company of requiring female employees to wear a red card to visit the toilet.
The union accused Murcia-based El Ciruelo of “denigrating” workers rights by allegedly requiring them to put a red card round their necks when making toilet visits, claiming there were “only three cards in a packhouse of 150 employees”.
The claims have generated unwanted media attention for El Ciruelo across Spain, both in national newspapers and on television.
However, fellow trade unions CCOO and USO which unlike UGT are represented at El Ciruelo’s facilities, hit back at the accusations, claiming the system in place at the firm’s packhouse had been agreed by all sides and did not require employees to wear a card.
In a statement released to the media, the unions said the card system had been used by El Ciruelo to regulate access to female toilets, adding that it has since been replaced by a luminous warning system that signals when facilities are free.
The company’s sales director, Rupert Maude, told Eurofruit Magazine the “false information” that appeared in the press had originated from “two disgruntled employees” and a union official that had an “axe to grind” with the company.
“We have been wrongly accused and put to public ridicule – there is no basis in the story and it’s gone nationwide in Spain,” he added.
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