DUISBURG/DÜSSELDORF (dpa-AFX) – In the debate about the future of Germany’s largest steel group thyssenkrupp Steel, IG Metall has emphasized its demand from the parent company for an overall concept for the steel sector. “Whether it’s a sale, a stake or an independence – we finally need an industrial concept that is financially and structurally secure,” said IG Metall district manager Knut Giesler on Tuesday in Düsseldorf. “The constant back and forth must end.”
The steel board wants to submit proposals by mid-April
The reason was statements by Steel’s supervisory board chairman Sigmar Gabriel in an interview with the “Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung” (WAZ, Monday/Tuesday). Gabriel said that the division board wanted to develop proposals for fundamental restructuring by mid-April in view of the expected, permanent decline in sales. “Whatever suggestions come out of this will of course immediately be discussed with the co-determination side, the works councils and IG Metall,” the former Vice Chancellor said. All decisions should only be made together with the co-determination committees, “as we have always done in the past”. The end result must be a sustainable steel company “in which the children and grandchildren of today’s steel workers can also find a job.”
Giesler explained that IG Metall and the works council had noted that the Steel board was developing a restructuring concept. “However, leaving the problem exclusively to the board and co-determination of the steel division is not acceptable.” IG Metall is still sticking to its demand for the steel division to become independent “if the general conditions are right”. These are to be manufactured by the parent company.
Around 27,000 people are employed in the steel division, around 13,000 of them in Duisburg alone. The division is currently struggling with, among other things, the economic downturn and high energy and raw material prices. The parent company Thyssenkrupp is planning to make the division independent. Discussions about a 50:50 partnership in the steel business have been ongoing for some time with the Czech energy company EPH, owned by the Czech entrepreneur Daniel Kretínský.
Gabriel sees three options for self-employment
According to Gabriel, there is not just one path to independence. He sees at least three options. “Firstly: Steel could become the new core of Thyssenkrupp. Secondly: We will become independent with a strong anchor shareholder. Thirdly: We will team up with someone – with Mr. Kretinsky, for example,” said the chairman of the WAZ supervisory board.
According to Gabriel, restructuring the steel division will “certainly take a few years”. “We’re not talking about a snap action or short-term business plans, but about a fundamental realignment of Thyssenkrupp Steel.” At the end there must be a company that earns its own investments and does not have to “please, please” the parent company for every euro./tob/DP/jha
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