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Closure of Huachipato: An Atomic Bomb Against Biobío

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By Rodrigo Díaz, Regional Governor of Biobío.

The indefinite closure of Huachipato is a devastating blow to Biobío. The loss of 20,000 jobs and the potential rise in unemployment to 12% not only harm the local economy but also wound our industrial identity.

The CAP Group may cite economic reasons for this decision, backed by stock market data. However, the manner matters. Just as the company's executives approached regional authorities when requesting safeguards, they should have shown the same deference before announcing the closure. In the end, the problem remains in Biobío.

This decision feels like a true atomic bomb dropped on our community. Therefore, Huachipato cannot limit itself to complying with the minimum legal severance payments. The company must take social responsibility and ensure that the 2,000 directly affected workers can rebuild their lives with dignity. Additionally, it is crucial for the company to be generous with permanent service workers, whose future is also at stake and whose numbers are similar.

On the other hand, the responsibility for the 16,000 people working in activities linked to Huachipato's value chain falls primarily on the Government. Thus, it is urgent to implement a true Marshall Plan for investment. Accelerating infrastructure projects, such as the Más Movilidad Plan, will help absorb the workforce that won’t be automatically rehired and those who won’t receive compensation.

The Government must think innovatively and consider what other measures can be taken to mitigate this crisis. Given the country's budget constraints and limited financial capacity, it is crucial to create conditions that allow private capital to revitalize the regional economy. For example, repealing the law banning jumbo squid fishing could offer a partial solution, enabling other economic sectors to absorb some of those 16,000 workers left unemployed.

Likewise, it is essential to send a clear signal to the construction sector through an agile legislative process that reduces the time and procedures required to obtain environmental and sectoral permits. Currently, these permits take an average of five years, delaying investment projects worth over 300 million dollars. This is a critical problem for the region, which we have repeatedly warned about.

Simultaneously, initiatives threatening other key economic sectors must be paused. If the Fisheries Law moves forward, industrial employment in Biobío will be severely affected, triggering a second atomic bomb on our economy.

It is also essential to support the forestry sector, where the lack of incentives for small producers, intentional fires, and timber theft have reduced the current pine plantation area to levels equivalent to those in 1990. Fiscal support for small and medium-sized farmers is needed to expand forests, maintain and increase the over 100,000 jobs the sector provides in the region, and, in turn, help Chile meet its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, which requires nearly 500,000 additional hectares of native and plantation forests.

Persisting with these legislative measures that harm both the fishing and forestry industries will only bring more devastation to our regional economy. Time is a luxury we don’t have, and the decisions made in the coming days will be decisive for the future of thousands of families. Meanwhile, we must be proactive in seeking proposals, as our priority is to protect industrial employment, which offers the highest quality and best wages for dependent workers.

We must make joint efforts and find the best possible way out of this crisis, in line with the invaluable contributions workers have made for decades to Talcahuano and the entire region. In Biobío, we are all Huachipato.

Source:Elmostrador