The Sindicato Labrego Galego-Comisións Labregas (SLG-CCLL) joined this Wednesday the demonstration held in Colón square, in Madrid, where it called on the Ministry of Agriculture and the Xunta de Galicia to take a stand against the new proposal of the Common Agricultural Policy (PAC) and demanded a "real shock plan" in the face of the escalation of production costs.
"For us it was necessary to be here and for the difficult situation that all the labrego people of Galicia are living through to also be made visible; otherwise, for the institutions we do not exist," explained the secretary of trade union action of the SLG, Brais Álvarez.
According to the Sindicato, the agricultural sector "is living through moments of great uncertainty," and they recalled that, since last February, fuel, fertilizers and other essential inputs for the operation of the farms "have more than doubled in price".
In addition, as the SLG emphasized in a statement, to this increase in costs is added that they "still do not have" an food chain law "that protects them, that studies their production costs, how much each part of the chain takes, and that guarantees that they do not sell their product at a loss".
The SLG has likewise shown its rejection of the proposal debated in the Council of Agriculture Ministers of the EU on the new PAC, which they describe as "a direct attack" on agricultural holdings. For this reason, they call on the Ministry to "oppose it head-on", within the framework of the European Union, to said proposal.
"We were not spoken to about fundamental issues for the maintenance of our farms, such as the degressivity of aid, market regulation, fair prices at origin, a maximum limit of aid for a fair and social distribution or sufficient funding, since they continue to propose a cut close to 30% of the funds, taking into account inflation in recent years," indicated the SLG.
In this context, the Sindicato demands a PAC "for the labregos", with minimum levels of funding that ensure the continuity of the holdings, recognize the work of conservation of the rural environment and ecosystem services, and contemplate the specificities of each territory.
Lastly, the SLG has conveyed its solidarity and support to the families of the victims of the railway accident recorded this Wednesday in Urda (Toledo).