Germany: Union will fight Goodyear job cuts “with everything we have”

Opposition is building against planned job cuts at the Goodyear plant in Fulda, Germany. The tyre maker announced at the start of June that it would cut about half of the current 1,150 jobs at the Fulda site, and the local Goodyear works council has now invited the workforce in Fulda and other Goodyear sites in Germany to demonstrate against the job cuts in front of the factory gate next Monday afternoon. A non-public works meeting is also scheduled to take place within the plant that day, as employee union IGBCE writes in a recent press release in which it threatens Goodyear with a “fight”.

Anne Weinschenk, head of the Central Hesse district of the IGBCE, stressed in the press release that the union would “not put up with” the elimination of 560 jobs. She adds: “The plant’s capacity utilisation is good. Goodyear wants to compensate for management mistakes at the expense of employees. To lay off well-trained employees now is a mistake that harms the (Fulda) site. We will do everything to prevent this.”

Last but not least, Weinschenk declares: “That’s enough! The company does not need more job cuts, it needs investment. The employer must be prepared that we will fight with everything we have at our disposal. For every single job.”