Bracing for 'worst', Thyssenkrupp steel workers warn of major restructuring
21/02/2024 14:00
DUESSELDORF/FRANKFURT, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp's
TKAG.DE powerful labour representatives on Wednesday warned
management of cutting jobs or capacity as part of an expected
sale of the conglomerate's steel division, saying workers had to
be prepared for the worst.
Concerned that management may take more drastic steps as
part of a planned partial sale of the steel unit to Czech energy
group EPH, workers said they had hired a consultancy to come up
with future scenarios that would preserve the business in its
current size and scope.
"We are not ruling anything out, but it remains clear to us
that we want to keep Stahl in its current size," Tekin Nasikkol,
who heads Thyssenkrupp's works council and sits on the group's
supervisory board, said in a handout to workers.
He said Thyssenkrupp's owners wanted to see results while
their patience was running thin and that therefore workers "need
to prepare for the worst".
In the leaflet, the IG Metall union said it would insist
that the group's sites and roughly 27,000 jobs would be kept and
that a previously agreed job guarantee until March 2026 would be
honoured.
Sources told Reuters last week that Thyssenkrupp and EPH
were facing delays in talks about a steel joint venture as
ongoing contract negotiations with automotive clients hamper the
German group's efforts to work up a necessary business plan.
(Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff and Christoph Steitz, Editing by
Rachel More)
((christoph.steitz@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 220 133 647;))