Spain: The Migration Flow Commission addresses contracting at origin to guarantee security

La Provincial Monitoring Commission of the Agreement for the Organization, Coordination and Socio-Labor Integration of Migratory Flows in Seasonal Agricultural Campaign has met today by videoconference to analyze the coordinated strategies for the next campaign, establishing health security as a fundamental objective.
The meeting, which was co-chaired by the Director General of Migration, Santiago Yerga and the Government Sub-delegate, Manuela Parralo, was attended by the Deputy Director General of Immigration Teresa Udaondo, and the head of the labor unit, Antonio Alvarado , by the Administration.
They have also participated as guests: the labor counselor of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration in Rabat, Fermín Yébenes; the general director of Migratory Policies of the Junta de Andalucía, Mar Ahumada; as well as representatives of Asaja, Freshuelva, UPA, Federation of Cooperatives of Andalusia, Representatives of Citrus Growers (ACPH), Representatives of Strawberry of Palos, representatives of Interstrawberry, and the unions UGT y CCOO, who have formed this forum and who have coordinated a series of scales to give a new impulse to health prevention for contracting at origin and thus, respond to the need for labor in the months of maximum production of strawberries and other fruits.
The priority topics have been, fundamentally, the analysis of the participating companies and their protocols within the framework of the Gecco program; The situation at borders and accesses with health guarantees (PCR), and the adjustments in the structure of phases and arrivals.
In relation to the monitoring of health conditions from departure from origin by ferry, it is proposed to develop an integration of the different Covid protocols: External Health, Gecco Area of the General Directorate of Migration, Ministry of Health, and in the own agricultural exploitations the implementation of the own contingency plans of each Company, carried out by its Services of PRL. Therefore, the objective will be to guarantee that in transport, accommodation and work all the measures that are legally available are met, until the return at the end of the campaign.
The strategy for the next campaign will prioritize the hiring of Moroccan workers, provided that the special situation derived from the health crisis is met. Along these lines, the Government of Spain is in talks with the Alawite kingdom, without ruling out other pilot projects that could be started in other countries.
The Director General of Migration has highlighted the importance of this cooperation framework between the two countries, which is essential to achieve convergence, and the common definition of the objectives for the development of the Agricultural Campaign 2020-2021 ".
"It is the responsibility of all parties to achieve a balance that allows the development of a sector that is key to the generation of jobs and that is one of the main pillars of the economy of the province of Huelva," said Parralo, who It has pointed out that between the months of January and May of this year, almost 156.000 hires were recorded to work in the agricultural season and in 2021 an increase in cultivated hectares is expected, contributing this sector to the economic revitalization damaged by the health situation.
The quota will help the sector to provide itself with sufficient labor to ensure the collection of a tremendously perishable product, especially in peak production periods - from March to June - which coincide with times of intensive employment in other provinces neighbors and in other sectors, such as tourism and hospitality at the start of the tourist season.
For this purpose, the public offer has been presented in the SAE, in order to be able to cover all the demands for jobs in the agricultural sector, using the GEA application, and with a dissemination of said offer in all the Autonomous Communities through the Service of Institutional Communication of the SEPE.
On the other hand, actions aimed at prioritizing the hiring of national labor will be intensified through the employment exchanges of the strawberry municipalities and the publication of specific job offers by companies and business associations in the sector, as reflected in Ministerial Order.
The deputy delegate of the Government in Huelva, Manuela Parralo, stressed that the priority for this year will be to enable all those who wish to obtain a job in the agricultural sector. Guaranteeing this balance, it will be possible to go to source contracting that ensures the necessary labor for the collection, contemplating all the necessary sanitary guarantees and following the criteria established jointly, and in the face of the restrictions dictated as a result of Covid 19.
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