SAARLOUIS (dpa-AFX) – Thousands of employees in the automotive industry in Saarland fear for their jobs: The US group Ford (Ford Motor) has decided against investing in new electric cars in its Saarlouis plant. Instead one should electric carplatform in Valencia, Spain, as the group announced on Wednesday. There is “the best positioned plant” to produce vehicles based on an electric architecture, said Ford.
The decision hits the 4,600 Ford employees in Saarland hard. Because car production at the site is only secured until mid-2025, then production of the combustion model Ford Focus will be phased out. From then on, the tapes stand still – unless Ford puts other plans on the table.
The employees spontaneously vented their protest after a works meeting: around 3,000 participants took to the streets after the works meeting and marched in a long procession to a rally on the B51 – including employees from the supplier companies, steel workers and politicians. The state parliament had interrupted its session and was on site with cabinet members and MPs.
Many participants had tears in their eyes, but outrage prevailed. Lars Desgranges from IG Metall Völklingen said he only had four words for how management behaved: “Breach of word, lie, delaying tactics, failure.” But you won’t give up: “It’s not a funeral, it’s a declaration of war.” Ford works council chairman Markus Thal said: “We were lied to, cheated and taken for a ride.”
The workforce had hoped that thanks to investments in electronics, jobs would still be largely secure after 2025. Among other things, 2,500 jobs have been cut since the end of 2018, said Thal. “Because we listened to the management. Because we trusted,” he said. “We delivered!” The only one who didn’t deliver was the management – “except for the shareholders”.
There was also sharp criticism from politicians. Saarland Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger and Economics Minister Jürgen Barke (both SPD) described the decision as a “farce”. One gets the impression that the internal bidding process was never fair. In fact, Saarlouis is “clearly ahead” compared to Valencia. The fact that the workforces of both locations were played off against each other in the bidding process is “shabby”. “It’s outrageous, that’s not how you treat employees,” said Rehlinger at the rally.
According to Rehlinger, it was “per se an undignified process to send employees onto the catwalk and say, now show what you have to offer so that you can keep your jobs”. However, if it doesn’t matter at all what you deliver and it was only a sham procedure to justify a previously made decision afterwards, “then you have discredited yourself as a manager.”
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) demanded that Ford “promptly make concrete plans for the future of the Saarlouis plant”. As the owner of the plant, employer and major automobile manufacturer, the group has a special responsibility in Germany, Europe’s largest automobile market.
Ford Europe boss Stuart Rowley told the dpa that the decision in favor of Spain was not a decision to close the Saarlouis site. “We are now trying to find ways to give as many affected workers as possible a future.” From a technical and strategic point of view, the two locations were on par, but from a financial point of view, Valencia had the advantage.
When asked whether Saarlouis still had a future in the Ford Group after 2025, Rowley said that a task force would be set up and further action discussed with employee representatives and the state government. Look at opportunities that lie inside and outside of Ford. He wasn’t more specific. Regarding the accusation that the decision-making was unfair, Rowley said: “That is not correct – we have invested a lot of time in six months to consult with the decision-makers from both locations.”
The works council no longer believes in corresponding offers from Ford. “These are tranquilizers, we’ve had enough of them,” said Thal. Now you have to see what legal options there are within the framework of the collective agreement.
Ford is in transition. In the age of electromobility, the US automaker initially lagged behind its competitors and seemed to have ignored the signs of the times. In the meantime, however, Ford is investing heavily in electromobility in order to be able to compete in the future. The European headquarters in Cologne plays a major role in the Americans’ plans. The group wants to invest a total of two billion US dollars there in the coming years and manufacture electric cars, with production scheduled to start at the end of 2023.
Ford has around 15,000 employees in the cathedral city. There, the planned Stromer are based on the electric platform from VW (Volkswagen (VW) vz). Ford wants to install its own platform in Valencia in order to build further electric models. It is unclear when the first Ford Stromer will roll off the assembly line there – “later in the decade”, it says vaguely.
In the direction of the colleagues in Valencia, who, according to Desgranges, were cheated just as much as those in Saarlouis, the trade unionist appealed: “As soon as the investments are with you, as soon as the systems are set up: get your wages back, get your standard of living back, get yourselves back your dignity back and shows this Ford company how powerful unions can be.”/ksp/DP/mis
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