They’ve been on strike since yesterday. The automotive supplier GKN Driveline wants to close its plant in Zwickau-Mosel (Saxony) and relocate production cheaply to Hungary.
The GKN plant in Mosel, with 835 employees, is currently working at full capacity with ball hubs and cardan shafts for combustion engine drive trains from Audi, BMW, Mercedes and VW. Nevertheless, the supervisory board – against the votes of the employee representatives – decided to end it.
“Future or Resistance”
GKN has not bothered about products for the future in the Mosel after the combustion engine. If so, then GKN only wants to build products for electric cars in “best cost countries”, i.e. in low-wage countries. Behind it is the investment company Melrose, which took over GKN in 2018 and thus triggered a broad debate in Great Britain about “corporate raiders” (locusts). Since then, GKN has closed several plants in Europe.
Profit instead of future. Auto suppliers who simply relocate cheaply instead of pushing ahead with the transformation. The employees in the traditional Zwickau-Mosel plant and IG Metall cannot accept that. Over 82 percent are now members of IG Metall. Their motto: “Future or resistance”. In last week’s ballot, over 96 percent of IG Metall members voted in favor of a strike.
“IG Metall is aware that automotive suppliers are under particular pressure during the transformation,” says Irene Schulz, executive board member of IG Metall and district manager of IG Metall Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony. “But that is precisely why we expect GKN, like every company, to face up to change, drive innovation and work towards future-proof production and secure jobs. Simply closing down entire plants and shedding jobs is not an acceptable option.”
Demo at GKN in Offenbach
On Tuesday, employees from the other three German locations – from Kiel, Offenbach and Trier – came to a demonstration in Offenbach for the preservation of the Mosel plant and for the future of jobs at all GKN locations. There were also delegations from other companies from all over Germany, such as Ford in Saarlouis, Continental, Borg Warner and other Offenbach companies.
“The solidarity in the workforce is huge and we also feel the support from other companies and from the entire IG Metall union,” explains Jörg Kirsten, Chairman of the Works Council of GKN Driveline in Zwickau-Mosel. “The mood here in Moselle is heated. We are determined to continue as long as it is necessary. We demand a future for all colleagues. And we demand fair protection for each and every one of us.”
