ERE case judge accuses ex-union boss of consultant insider deal
Magistrate alleges former federation chief received juicy layoff package in exchange for information
The judge leading the so-called ERE investigation into an alleged 140-million-euro fraud related to a public fund set up to help firms lay off workers in Andalusia, has accused a former leader of the CCOO labor union, Juan Antonio Florido, of receiving payments of 265,000 euros from Vitalia, the consulting firm that handled the majority of the suspicious payouts.
Florido, the former secretary general of the Fiteqa industrial federation in the region, took advantage of his position to provide Vitalia with information about companies in financial straits in return for a "complete ERE package, with early retirement" worth 221,000 euros in 2003, when he was laid off from textile firm Hytasal. On top of the package, he was awarded 42,000 euros for three other policies he held with Vitalia, with whose director, Jesús Bordallo, Florido enjoyed a "long relationship."
