German Airbus plants hit by wildcat strike
Submitted by pirate on 22 November 2008 - 9:19pm
Nov. 20 , 2008 AFP
Staff at three Airbus plants in Germany staged wildcat strikes Thursday over plans by the European jet maker to spin off the factories into a new subsidiary, a company spokesman said.
The work stoppages hit the Varel and Nordenham facilities in northern Germany, coming on the same day as industrial action at a plant in the southern city of Augsburg belonging to the parent company EADS. Airbus sought a court injunction against the strikes in Varel and Nordenham.
The company aims to group the three sites with some 6,000 staff at the
end of the year in the new EADS unit Premium Aerotec. The works council
has called the terms of the deal for employees "unacceptable". The
company has asked staff to contribute to savings of €30 million ($38
million) in its operations, amounting to some €5,000 per worker.
Labour representatives say they should not bear the brunt of the
restructuring programme, particularly without any guarantees from the
company on jobs at the plants. The supervisory board of Airbus Germany
plans to ink an agreement on the spinoff at a meeting Monday, works
council officials said.
An Airbus spokesman declined to confirm the deadline but expressed
confidence "that we will be able to reach a deal with the works council
soon". With the creation of the new subsidiary, Airbus plans to create
the world's biggest supplier for aeronautic structural components.
Airbus had originally intended under its vast Power 8 restructuring
plan introduced last year to sell the three plants. But talks with the
German company MT Aerospace failed earlier this year, as did attempts
in France to sell the Saint Nazaire Ville and Meaulte factories. Plans
for the new EADS unit Aerolia to assume the management of the two sites
has also met with resistance from staff there.
The group has been hit by management instability, operational
difficulties, and the strong euro, which makes its planes more
expensive on international markets.
AFP (news@thelocal.de)
