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VDL Nedcar to cut 750 jobs as coronavirus hits new car sales

A production line at the Nedcar car plant in 2015
Car maker VDL Nedcar is to scrap 750 jobs, mostly involving people on staffing agency contracts, because of falling car sales.
‘Despite a small respite in the previous quarter, the car market will remain under pressure next year,’ director Paul van Vuuren told broadcaster 1Limburg.
After the cuts, there will be just 4,000 people working at Nedcar, down from 7,000 at the company’s 2018 peak.
VDL Nedcar is the only independent car manufacturer in the Netherlands and has been building models for BMW since mid 2014.
However, the company’s future has been thrown into doubt since October, when BMW said it would stop making cars at the plant in Born. Instead, BMW plans to concentrate production at its own factories, including that of the Mini, which is currently produced in the Netherlands.
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BMW to stop production at Dutch car plant, threatening thousands of jobs

The Mini production line in Born. Photo: Niels Wenstedt ANP XTRA
German car maker BMW is to stop making cars at the VDL Nedcar plant in Born, the Limburg-based factory said on Thursday.
Instead, BMW plans to concentrate production at its own factories, including that of the Mini, which is currently produced in the Netherlands.
VDL chief executive Willem van der Leegte has described the decision as a ‘disappointment’. ‘We have done everything in our power to tie BMW to us with a new follow-up order,’ he said in a press statement.
VDL Nedcar has been building Minis and BMW’s X1 models for six years.
The coronavirus pandemic has had a major impact on the car industry and many carmakers are having to cope with overcapacity. The shift towards electric cars – which require fewer people to produce – is another issue, director Paul van Vuuren told local broadcaster Limburg 1.
The plant employs 4,600 people and VDL must now find a new client to keep the factory open when BMW production stops in 2023.
The company is pinning its hopes on a new entrant to the market, which has developed a car but not a production line, Van Vuuren said.
The Dutch factory, the only large scale passenger car production factory in the country, is capable of producing some 200,000 cars a year.
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nlThe DutchNews.nl team would like to thank all the generous readers who have made a donation in recent weeks. Your financial support has helped us to expand our coverage of the coronavirus crisis into the evenings and weekends and make sure you are kept up to date with the latest developments.
DutchNews.nl has been free for 14 years, but without the financial backing of our readers, we would not be able to provide you with fair and accurate news and features about all things Dutch. Your contributions make this possible.
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Temporary workers are being left out of corona rescue deals, unions warn

Photo: DutchNews.nl
Hundreds of thousands of people on temporary employment contracts are losing their job because of the coronavirus crisis, despite government measures to help companies pay staff, according to trade union federation FNV.
Some 800,000 people – including 425,000 on call out or zero hour contracts, 227,000 in the first six months of their staffing agency job – are at risk, the FNV said.
On Monday the government launched its NOW scheme to help firms pay salaries while the crisis continues. Companies whose turnover has slumped to zero can claim 90% of their wage bill from the state. A 20% drop entitles the company to 10% support.
Some 35,000 companies approached the emergency fund on Monday, in line with government forecasts. And social affairs minister Wouter Koolmees has called on firms to apply for help to pay for their temporary staff as well.
Good example
However, initial figures indicate many firms are ditching their temps when the work dries up. ‘It is very sad to see how easily companies are letting workers go, even though they could get to support to help pay them,’ FNV spokesman Zakaria Boufangacha said.
KLM, VDL Nedcar, Qbuzz and staffing agencies such as Randstad, Olympia and Adecco are failing their temporary staff, according to the FNV. Others, like Transavia, DAF and Primark are setting a good example, the union said.
In addition, thousands of gig economy workers, including taxi drivers, are also being left with no source of income. Foreign students too risk losing access to grants and other benefits because they cannot meet the 56 hour a week work rule.
Some staffing agencies say it is the end employer – their client – who should be picking up the bill for the remaining part of the salary.
‘It is a triangle,’ Jurieen Koops, director of staffing agency association ABU, told the NRC. ‘You have to look at it together: what is the government contributing, what can the staffing agency pay and what is the client paying. They also have an interested in keeping the temp.’
Koops has called on the government to develop a safety net for staffing agency workers. ‘The government has organised everything for permanent staff and for freelancers, but flexible workers are being left out,’ he said.
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nlThe DutchNews.nl team would like to thank all the generous readers who have made a donation in recent weeks. Your financial support has helped us to expand our coverage of the coronavirus crisis into the evenings and weekends and make sure you are kept up to date with the latest developments.
DutchNews.nl has been free for 14 years, but without the financial backing of our readers, we would not be able to provide you with fair and accurate news and features about all things Dutch. Your contributions make this possible.
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Chemicals companies should be allowed to drug test employees, says minister

Do not drink and work Photo: Depositphotos.com
The Dutch government wants to make it possible for chemicals companies to test their employees for drug and alcohol use.
Social affairs junior minister Tamara van Ark has proposed that privacy rights be waved for more companies where intoxicated workers would cause significant safety risks.
Already, pilots, train drivers and police officers can be checked by their employers.
Van Ark said in a government news statement: ‘Employees working in an organisation under the influence of alcohol or drugs incur safety risks for themselves, their employees and their environment. This kind of behaviour does not belong to the work floor and it is important to take action against it so that everyone can work in safety. This is why I want to make it possible to test for alcohol or drug use in workplaces with specific risk factors.’
The government aims to strengthen prevention, advice and support for employees, but stresses that it is also their own responsibility not to show up under the influence of drugs.
Some companies, such as Nedcar, already reportedly perform such tests but according to the NOS broadcaster, firms that test without a legal basis for doing so could risk fines.
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VDL Nedcar to scrap 700 flexible jobs as demand for cars shrinks

A production line at the Nedcar car plant in 2015
Car maker VDL Nedcar is to scrap 700 jobs currently done by people on staffing agency contracts, the Telegraaf has reported.
The market for new cars is shrinking and the company no longer expects to need hundreds of temporary workers, the paper said. The jobs will be phased out in the final two months of the year, although some workers may be transferred to different locations.
After the cuts, there will be just 400 people on agency contracts at the Born car plant in Limburg, out of a total workforce of 4,800.
VDL Nedcar is the only independent car manufacturer in the Netherlands and has been building models for BMW since mid 2014.
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BMW may shift all Mini production to Limburg in case of no-deal Brexit

Minis being assembled in Born. Photo: Roger Dohmen via HH
The VDL Nedcar car plant in Born, Limburg, is not commenting on reports that BMW could shift all its Mini production to the Netherlands in the event of a hard Brexit, the Telegraaf said on Wednesday.
A spokesman told the paper that he could not comment on BMW’s position because of the uncertainties surrounding any move.
However, the Telegraaf said, the family-owned firm have bought a 38 hectare site in Limburg which it plans to use to expand production in Born.

BMW’s corporate communications director Graham Biggs told the Oxford Mail on Tuesday that in the event of a no-deal Brexit, ‘some or all of the production of the Mini could be moved to Holland where we have a plant.’
‘We need frictionless trade and a no-deal Brexit will not give us that from what we can see,’ he said.
VDL Nedcar is the only independent car manufacturer in the Netherlands and has been building four models for BMW since mid 2014.

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Engineering sector settles pay deal after eight months of conflict

A production line at the Nedcar car plant
Unions and employers in the electrical engineering sector have signed a new pay deal for the 150,000 workers after eight months and several strikes, the Financieele Dagblad said on Friday.
The deal gives workers a 3.5% pay rise, a rise of €58 in July and a further €116 rise in January 2020. ‘This is good news for youngsters and people at the bottom of the pay ladder,’ the FNV union federation said.
In addition, the two sides have agreed that at least 3,000 people employed via staffing agencies should be given a permanent job and that older workers can work less without any impact on their pensions.
The agreement still has to be put to union members for approval. The companies covered by the pay deal include VD, Stork, ASML, Fokker, DAF, Siemens, Scania and Ardagh.

Officials try to unravel mysterious damage to hundreds of parked cars in Limburg

Officials in Limburg are trying to find the cause of mysterious spots on hundreds of cars parked close to the A2 motorway in Born.
The damage at first appeared to have been caused by small stones but the black fragments – some form of organic material – are not now thought to be connected, broadcaster Nos says on Friday.
The cars are parked on an industrial zone close to the A2 motorway nearby the Nedcar car plant. New cars which have come off the production line and are awaiting shipment in another car park close by have not been damaged, fire brigade officials said.

Nearby chemicals plant Sabic has not had any leaks and the KNMI weather bureau says there are no reports of any volcanic ash or Sahara sand in the region, which could have caused the damage.
According to local broadcaster L1, the damage could total hundreds of thousands of euros.
Photographs of a black car with considerable paint damage close to its handle and circulating on the internet are not from the Born incident.

BMW to build new Mini convertible in the Netherlands

The VDL Nedcar factory in Born will begin production of the new Mini convertible next month, news agency ANP says on Friday.
The Mini convertible is the second car to be made in Born since the factory relaunched after Mitsubishi pulled out in 2012. The plant also produces Mini’s 3-door hatchbacks.
The Born plant is the only place in the world where BMW will produce the new version of the Mini, ANP says.
VDL Nedcar is now an independent car manufacturer with a workforce of some 2,350. That is 850 more than when Mitsubishi pulled out, the Financieele Dagblad says. The new Mini deal will not lead to any further expansion in the workforce in the short term, the paper says.

BMW cuts Mini production in Limburg after strikes

German car maker BMW has cut the number of cars it is producing at the VDL Nedcar plant in Limburg following concerns about the number of strikes.
In total, BMW has slashed the production of new Minis by 1,000 and dozens of jobs are at risk, the Financieele Dagblad said at the weekend.
There have been three one-day strikes over the past six months and a fourth is planned for Monday.
The VDL Group’s Jan Mooren told the paper part of the production of the Mini Hatch is now being transferred to Oxford. BMW itself has not made a connection between the strikes and the production cut, the FD said.
According to local broadcaster L1, Mooren is concerned that other orders may be lost because of the damage to the company’s image.