FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)–The chemical union IGBCE wants to defend itself against the French tire manufacturer Michelin’s plans to reduce its size in Germany and has announced its own concept. According to the union, up to 1,500 employees nationwide are affected by the austerity program.
“The clear-cutting planned here is completely incomprehensible to us and will meet with our resistance,” says Matthias Hille, head of the IGBCE Mainz district, corporate advisor and supervisory board member at Michelin Germany. “We will not allow ourselves to be fobbed off with superficial explanations. All the numbers must be on the table. And then we will present our own concept and develop alternatives to possible closure plans,” announces Hille.
According to the union, Michelin announced at staff meetings on Thursday and Friday that it plans to largely withdraw from the production of truck tires in Germany. According to current considerations, the plants in Karlsruhe and Trier are threatened with closure, and the location in Homburg (Saarland) is threatened with the loss of two activities and thus a large part of the workforce. Parts of the administration could be relocated.
“There is a risk that locations that are as traditional as they are ultra-modern will simply be eliminated without first systematically thinking through alternatives,” criticizes Hille. “The workforce, the works council and the IGBCE will resolutely defend themselves against such red-pen actionism.”
The IGBCE points out that the Karlsruhe location, founded in 1931, is, according to the company, one of the most modern in the industry. It was not until 2021 that production was completely switched to electric tire presses, and CO2 emissions were reduced by 82 percent compared to 2010. Homburg, in turn, counts Michelin as one of its most important truck tire factories in the world and is the only European location that can install RFID chips directly in new tires.
According to Hille, Michelin has so far failed to provide detailed data on production costs and economic efficiency calculations. General references to overcapacity and production being more localized in the respective sales markets did not justify such deep cuts at the German locations.
Contact the author: [email protected]; @UlrikeDauer_
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October 22, 2023 07:20 ET (11:20 GMT)
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