The global leather market is in trouble, and tensions are running through tanneries around the world. This news brings us three cases from the United States and Argentina, where workers are agitating to improve conditions or (more mundanely) to save employment.
The tensions running in tanneries
Let’s start with those in review but that are agitating in a still-positive frame. The 65 employees of Twin City Tanning (Minnesota) have been on strike since October 9 to demand improved working conditions, and will continue with picket lines (in photo, from the local press) until the company is willing to negotiate. Much more complex is the situation for Argentine companies, where the liberalization of tanning raw material exports has complicated the day-to-day operations of entities that were already not sailing in calm waters.
At Curtiembre Arlei there is no talk of layoffs, but 10% of the workforce is allegedly in jeopardy: production capacity of 10,000 hides a day is currently reduced to less than 4,000. It’s even worse at Curtiembre de Paso del Rey, in bankruptcy proceedings since December 2024 and already relieved of about two-thirds of its 150 employees. Just when the unions thought they were stabilizing the fate of the remaining 50 workers, an order came from the city government’s Department of Health and Environment to close the factory.
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