Jobs
Michelin has announced that car tyre, van tyre and rubber mixing production will cease at its Stoke-on-Trent factory in the second half of 2001. Production of truck retreads, mould and steel cord production will continue. In total, 950 jobs of the 2,350 currently on site will be lost. The move is part of Michelin’s European rationalisation programme.
The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung has announced that Michelin intends to shed 1,800 jobs out of a total of 28,700 at its four plants in France according to the company’s restructuring plan. Most of them will be achieved by early retirements but approximately 100 employees will have to leave the company involuntarily.
Nissan has confirmed that it is currently producing 1.35 million cars, which is 10 per cent less than last year. This amounts to the company’s seventh recorded loss in the past eight years. C.O.E. Carlos Ghosn, who engineered the turnaround for Michelin in North America, is currently preparing a restructuring plan which will entail the loss of 21,000 jobs, or 14% of its worldwide workforce, by the year 2003. In the US, 1,000 jobs (10%) will go by March 2001, while in Japan, there are plans to close four factories.
In order to return to profitability, Vredestein Fietsbanden BV says that it will phase out production of bicycle tyres in Doetinchem, The Netherlands and gradually start up production in countries where the wages are lower. A period of two years has been planned for this and around 125 jobs will be lost in Doetinchem, most of them in the year 2001. The sales and marketing operations will continue to be run from The Netherlands.
The Semperit factory at Traiskirchen is facing a cut in car tyre production from the current 2.9 million to 1.4 million units next year. That will put a big question mark over the efficiency of the plant. The works council fears erosion and medium-term closure; well above 100, if not up to 250 jobs will have to go. The threatened workforce is determined to fight this unequal treatment with all the means at its disposal and, if necessary, to create a “sea of troubles” in public. Whether that can put right the many shortcomings of the past we shall have to wait and see. Cross-border solidarity between fellow workforces is not apparent.
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