Closure for unions “not acceptable”, talks with investor about sale according to the works council still “in their infancy”.
One day before the German truck manufacturer MAN in Linz is to disclose facts about the Steyr plant that is up for grabs to the State Economic Commission, employee representatives and unions on Tuesday again demanded the inventory in the production network.
Preservation as a goal
A closure in 2023 is “unacceptable,” stated the works councils Erich Schwarz (workers) and Thomas Kutsam (employees). But discussions with a possible investor are running in parallel.
Even if Schwarz did not officially name the name, there has apparently already been contacts with ex-Magna boss Siegfried Wolf. In addition to the closure of Steyr in 2023, the management also mentioned the sale of the plant as an option. Negotiations with the investor “are still in their infancy,” said Schwarz.
The primary goal of the workforce representatives is to maintain the plant. A solution will be sought with Munich in the first quarter, he said as the time horizon. This had been promised to the employee representatives by the management.
Sustainable
The work is “on the brink”, but as a footballer he knows that “a game can always be turned in your own favor”. He thinks this is also possible for the Steyr plant after an agreement was reached between MAN and the works council at the end of January for the German sites that only 3,500 positions will be cut instead of the original 6,500.
And this reduction is taking place in a socially responsible manner, the works council continues. Such a “key issues paper” should also succeed for Steyr and his 2,300 employees, especially since this plant is profitable. If the “negotiations on an equal footing” should nevertheless fail, combat measures cannot be ruled out, he referred to an existing workforce resolution.
Only a few months ago, the MAN board of directors confirmed that the Steyr location was “future-proof”, added GPA Federal Managing Director Karl Dürtscher.
“A little swindled”
In this context, PRO-GE federal chairman Rainer Wimmer referred again to the site security contract for Steyr, which, according to the legal opinion, is “watertight” and prohibits redundancies due to operational reasons until 2030. An application was made to convene the economic commission because the employee representatives had the impression that “the workforce was swindled a bit by management,” said Wimmer.
There the data must be put on the table. Even though the state commission's report is not binding, the unionist believes that the pressure on the company will increase if the Ministry of Economic Affairs comes to the conclusion that the plant is economical.
