Threatening the continuity of our way of life.

Joint reaction of the Spanish farmers' unions in defence of livestock farming in the province of Salamanca

The Spanish trade union UGT is being hired by the Austarlian company Berkeley to push ahead with its destructive mining project in the Salamanca region.

An attack by the UGT - FICA trade union in defence of the Berkeley Minera group's uranium mine in the province of Salamanca, in which it promised "quality jobs" and "industrial development" by opening the Berkeley uranium mine

The livestock farmers affected by this project declare the following:

  1. Our firm opposition to the mining project, which would lead to the destruction of our jobs and the disappearance of our livestock farms

We oppose the attack by UGT-FICA, which is defending the biased, speculative and personal interests of a company that is threatening the continuity of our way of life.

  1. One cannot speak of quality jobs when they are associated with pollution and damage to workers' health, nor of industrial development when, in order to create fewer new jobs, other existing ones are destroyed. The local livestock industry receives income and wealth in the province while the Berkeley multinational sells false economic realities and transfers its profits out of the country. We are fighting for Salamanca's companies, which are based in Campo Charro, and not for the fairy tales and promises of companies based in London or Australia, who just want to plunder our natural, ecological and human heritage without having a minimum interest in our land and future generations.

  2. We condemn the lack of UGT-FICA criteria for assessing the impact that the opening of the uranium mine would have on jobs in our province and on the present and future of the livestock sector in the province of Salamanca. We are cattle breeders who defend a model of livestock farming based on small and medium sized enterprises, which is not speculative but creates jobs for our families and wealth for our territory.

  3. We condemn the fact that the UGT-FICA trade union does not take into account the importance of agriculture and livestock farming in our province, which is essential to ensure the viability of the food chain. As livestock farmers, we invite UGT-FICA to find out about the high quality standards that the EU requires of us to produce and market our meat and other products. This is not compatible with a mining project that would have serious consequences for our livestock and our environment, and not with consumer safety.

  4. as livestock farmers, we are proud of the value and identity that our meat has acquired on the national and international market. A mining project of this kind would, at a stroke, destroy the prestige that we have earned over many years of hard work and that still represents a mark of quality of our province.

  5. In its statements, UGT-FICA despises the way our villages live and work, and especially the health of the people living in the areas affected by this project. At a time when we are fighting against the Covid 19 pandemic, we feel happy to be able to live and work in our rural environment, although we still have to fight against numerous shortcomings in health, infrastructure, technology, etc.

  6. We call on UGT-FICA to rethink the overall picture they have of us cattle farmers.

WE ARE WORKERS who see our farms and our future and that of future generations threatened. We will always fight against this threat. We are linked to the "depopulated" Spain, we feel obliged to it and we do not want to leave it.

We call on UGT-FICA to revoke their declaration because it goes against the legitimate interests of agricultural workers, farmers and cattle breeders.

We reaffirm our opposition to the Berkeley Uranium Mine and all similar mining projects in the province and confirm our attachment to Campo Charro

Signed by

Grupo de Ganaderos No a la Mina ASAJA Salamanca / COAG Salamanca Unión de Campesinos Castilla y León - UCCL UPA Salamanca / AbaDuero