Mixed Reaction to Conti Compromise

While Continental and the German IG BCE union arrived at a compromise regarding the company’s Hanover-Stöcken truck tyre factory, Germany’s Bild-Zeitung reports the decision to suspend production has far from won the universal admiration of employees. The paper records “indifference, anger and disappointment” amongst the affected employees – close to 430 of whom will be let go by next year at the latest.

“We have been taken for a ride,” one employee was quoted as saying. “As ‘little people’ we can not at all appreciate what this compromise brings.” Another said: “Unions and works councils are so weak, we feel betrayed. I have worked my fingers to the bone for 20 years – all for nothing.”

The compromise has also clearly left a sour aftertaste in many French mouths. According to the AFP news agency, unions there see the Clairoix factory’s hopes as being further dashed as the Hanover based company has favoured the works in its hometown. “As it is a German group it is primarily protecting the German factory, choosing rather to close the French,” stated a representative of the French Democratic Labour Confederation (CFDT).