Press Release No. 06/2017 IG Metall Expands Cooperation with Hungarian Metalworkers’ Union VASAS

Kecskemét (Hungary) – IG Metall is further expanding its cooperation with the Hungarian metalworkers’ union VASAS and opened a second office of the union-affiliated training and consulting institute TPI nonprofit Kft in Kecskemét on February 28, 2017. On the occasion of the office opening, Wolfgang Lemb, executive board member of IG Metall, stated on Tuesday in Kecskemét: “Jobs in the automotive industry in Germany can only be secured in the long term if working and income conditions at foreign locations are also improved with the help of strong union organization. We are countering global cut-throat competition and corporate social dumping with boundless union solidarity along the value chain. We are present wherever corporations seek to relocate in order to maximize profits through low wages and low social standards.” Lemb reaffirmed that IG Metall is working intensively and in a spirit of partnership on transnational cooperation with its Hungarian sister union, VASAS.

In Kecskemét, Daimler AG is expanding its production facilities through 2019. Over the next few years, between 5,000 and 6,000 new jobs will be created at the German automaker and among the supplier companies also located there. 4,000 people already work at a Mercedes-Benz plant there.

Background:
A little over a year ago, the joint project “Transnational Partnership Initiative” (TPI) between the German and Hungarian metalworkers’ unions IG Metall and VASAS was launched in Győr. IG Metall is now building on this with its new office in Kecskemét. These two cities are the centers of the Hungarian automotive industry. In Hungary, approximately 30,000 people work at sites operated by German companies in the automotive and supplier industries.