According to “Oö. Nachrichten”: Ex-Magna boss Wolf rides with KeKelit boss Egger.
In the struggle to maintain the MAN site in Steyr in Upper Austria, the negotiations were postponed again on Wednesday evening, according to APA information. Details on the progress of the negotiations could not be found in experience.
It was previously leaked that the talks with the investor Siegfried Wolf were in the final sprint. The “Oö. Nachrichten” reported online on Wednesday evening that there was also a group of bidders around the Linz entrepreneur Karl Egger (KeKelit).
Bidding group
Gerald Ganzger, partner in the Vienna law firm Lansky Ganzger und Partner, has confirmed this. Egger is part of a group of Upper Austrian entrepreneurs who are interested in the MAN location, says Ganzger. In addition, the former Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer (SPÖ) and Siemens Austria boss Wolfgang Hesoun are also present in this group.
The group around the bustling entrepreneur Egger, whose family business has just said goodbye to ice hockey sponsorship in Linz, would perhaps meet with greater approval from the workforce than Wolf, according to the newspaper.
Struggle for location
When asked, the group only confirmed that there were “promising” talks with an unspecified investor. The Upper Austrian Regional Economic Councilor Markus Achleitner (ÖVP) also said on Wednesday that “talks at high pressure” would be running, but without giving details.
MAN plans to close the plant in Steyr in 2023 as part of a group-wide savings program. 2,300 employees would be affected. Workers and politicians insist that the site is profitable and that there are site security contracts.
The crux of the salary level
These should actually have guaranteed the stock until 2030, but were canceled by MAN. Since the mother's savings plans became known, a solution for Steyr has been fought for.
According to the “Oö. Nachrichten”, the sticking point in the negotiations with ex-Magna boss Wolf is the high salary level of the MAN employees in Steyr. Wolf therefore wants MAN to pay the severance payments and that he can then take over part of the workforce with lower wages and salaries – which is likely to meet with resistance from the workforce.
According to APA information from the company's environment, the solution is only dependent on the approval of the employee representatives. It's about the future of around 2,300 jobs at the Steyr plant, where trucks have been built for more than 100 years.
