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Press Release No. 05/2012 “5 to 12” protest rally in Bochum – IG Metall demands guarantees and security for ...

... Jobs at Inoxum

IG-Metall-Fahnen
Foto: IG Metall

27 January 2012 27 January 2012

Bochum – IG Metall has called for long-term guarantees and security for the locations of ThyssenKrupp’s stainless steel division. “No site and no employee should be left behind—not in Bochum, not in Krefeld or Dillenburg, and not at any other location in Germany,” demanded Bertin Eichler, chief treasurer of IG Metall, on Friday at a protest rally in Bochum. The union representative called on the potential buyer of the stainless steel division, the Finnish company Outokumpu, to present a “robust and plausible industrial plan.” Such a plan must include precise commitments regarding future jobs and investments. “We demand that Outokumpu be prepared to enshrine these conditions in binding collective bargaining agreements and that it recognize and adopt the existing co-determination structures,” Eichler said.

The planned sale of Inoxum threatens more than a thousand jobs. ThyssenKrupp has thus triggered a “red alert.” “ThyssenKrupp wants to shirk its responsibility. We will not allow that,” said Eichler. Should the sale go through, ThyssenKrupp must maintain a long-term and significant stake in a joint venture.

Oliver Burkhard, district director of IG Metall in North Rhine-Westphalia, demanded firm commitments for the employees. “Firm commitments or a fierce conflict. Those are the alternatives. We need firm commitments for the employees of Outokumpu and ThyssenKrupp. Only then can there be a solution,” said Burkhard.