Anger, mistrust, uncertainty and many questions still dominate the employees of Fokker. Trade union FNV updated them on Tuesday about the result that is on the table after ‘tough negotiations’. The Fokker factory in Helmond, which employs more than 300 people, will disappear. Landing gear production will be moved to Papendrecht.
The employees now have the choice of going with them to Papendrecht or looking for another job. But there is a lot of mistrust among the employees about the way this should be done, the union also noted on Tuesday.
According to the union, the wildcat strike of a few weeks ago did help at the negotiating table. But the lack of a clear planning for the relocation of the factory, in particular, creates a lot of uncertainty and mistrust among the employees. The first machines have already moved to Papendrecht.
“I’ve been working at Fokker for so long, I’m not going to let that departure arrangement lie.”
“We just don’t know when our position will expire,” said Fokker employees on Tuesday after the update session with the unions in a community center in Helmond. “And as long as your position does not expire, you cannot make use of the severance package.”
According to the employees, Fokker can ‘detain’ them until the end of 2023. “It is a very uncertain future that we now face,” the employees say. Looking for another job in advance is not always an option. “I’ve been working at Fokker for so long, I really don’t let that departure arrangement go unnoticed,” says a Fokker veteran. In the meantime, motivation is hard to find in the Fokker factory in Helmond. “I think production has never been this low.”
“People could vote against the plan from gut feeling.”
The FNV trade union was therefore asked critical questions about the provisional agreement on Tuesday. “We are used to that,” says Ron Peters of FNV Metaal. “And it’s understandable, but in our view this is the best result we could achieve.” The union is very concerned about whether the staff will also agree with the preliminary result of the negotiations.
“People could vote against this plan out of their anger and gut feeling,” says Peters. “That is very understandable, but we have told people that there is a good chance that they will only receive a statutory transition payment from Fokker. The results of the negotiations are broader.”
“The trust is just gone.”
People were also concerned about their future if they did move to Papendrecht. “We really don’t have the feeling that our position there will be safe in the coming years, that trust is simply gone,” says an employee.
Fokker wants to give compensation to people who live more than an hour away from Papendracht. “But there are a number of people who really live within 59 minutes or 58 minutes, they don’t get anything extra.” Fokker employees will officially vote on the plan on 10 May.
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