Afree for the future: Warning strikes at Ford – IG Metall demands bankruptcy protection

In a dispute over a planned personnel loss at the car maker Ford Germany, IG Metall relies on warning strikes. After the management rejected the union claim for high severance payments and an “insolvency -protected security net”, IG Metall called on to work in Cologne. It is about night, early and late layers that are planned from late Tuesday evening to Thursday.

The warning strikes show that the workforce is closed behind the claims of IG Metall, it was said by the union. In the negotiations on a social collective agreement, the management must clearly move towards the union.

Mother Group no longer guarantees Germany’s daughter

“We are still calling for a sustainable future concept for the Cologne locations and the receipt of as many jobs as possible, but we also need an insolvency-protected security network,” said Ford IG Metall spokesman in Cologne, David Lüdtke. “The termination of the patronage declaration has sustainably shaken the trust of our colleagues into the company.”

The patronage declaration means a kind of guarantee that the US mother group granted its deficient Germany subsidiary from 2006. The US mother had recently given a thick financial injection to remove the debt mountain of the Germany subsidiary, and at the same time ended the patronage declaration. As a result, the German daughter’s bankruptcy is now possible. Now IG Metall demands that the Ford Motor Company, as the parent company, grants the Cologne employee insolvency protection.

Deep worries with the employees

Ford-Werke GmbH has excluded operational terminations by 2032. In the meantime, however, it turns out that the jobs are not as safe as expected: in the event of bankruptcy, they could still be lost.

Management emphasizes that you will continue to rely on the Germany subsidiary in the future – this will show the provision of several hundred million euros for a business plan to be torn around. The elimination of the patronage declaration is a step back to the normality and by no means an expression of a lack of Ford engagement in Europe. No other Ford subsidiary has such a patronage declaration.

Sales of electric off-road vehicles weaker than expected

Ford launched two electric off-road vehicles produced in Cologne last year, the sale of which is significantly behind expectations. A spokesman for Ford Germany said that the workforce is used by its right to warning strikes. “We are still committed to finding balanced and fair solutions together with our social partners as quickly as possible.”

Part of the Cologne Ford workforce is in short work on certain days until May, but this is not the case in the warning strike. In total, Ford still has around 11,500 employees in the cathedral city. The company already has a shrinkage, in 2018 there were almost 20,000 employees.