The stricken car manufacturer Ford agreed with the union after months of dispute over the planned job cuts. The employees organized in IG Metall still have to agree to the plans in a pre -vote – but a rejection would be a surprise. “With the overall package achieved, we have created a safe network for everyone. In addition, we managed to secure the vocational training and takeover in the long term until 2032,” said the chairman of the general works council, Benjamin Gruschka, in a message from IG Metall on Friday. Wassenberg. “Because it is an important step to build a sustainably profitable business in Europe,” said Wassenberg. The car manufacturer has been writing losses with his Cologne works for years. That is why Ford wants to reduce around 2900 jobs at the location again, which corresponds to around every fourth workplace. A few years ago, more than 20,000 people worked for Ford in Cologne, today there are still around 11,500. Discussions “significantly better than usual”, the union cannot prevent the job cuts either. However, Ford has approved a protective shield for pensions and severance payments for all employees in Cologne. “The job cuts primarily relies on voluntary departure,” said Gruschka. “The severance payments are generous and significantly better than usual in the automotive industry.” Both electric cars and commercial vehicles are produced in Cologne, and there is also a development center. Ford had rebuilt the Cologne plant for two billion dollars: with the end of the already less profitable small car production of the Fiesta model in Cologne and the conversion to electric models, Ford wanted to be ahead of the market development. The electric models built in Cologne, the SUV Explorer and the Crossover Capri, are on the technical basis of Volkswagen’s electrical models. However, there is currently little to see from the hoped -for surge of electromobility in Germany and Europe. On the contrary: Even modest sales expectations have not yet been fulfilled. In autumn 2024 there was still talk of the fact that the electric car factory could produce around 250,000 vehicles a year, now there is talk of numbers below the threshold of 200,000. This capacity should be utilized at least half in the current year. Electric cars sell poorly. The car models hardly find any buyers, has been produced in Cologne in recent months. Ford also justified the renewed job cuts with the too high costs in Germany and the weak business with electric cars. Companies and works councils are calling for an environmental bonus in Europe and the expansion of the charging infrastructure. There was even a strike in May, a novelty at the location. The ligaments rested for a day. The employees feared bankruptcy of the location. The parent company from Detroit had previously withdrawn the so -called patronage declaration. This included that America is coming up for all losses of German Ford works. So far, the annual financial statements of Ford-Werke GmbH have always said that the parent company had undertaken with the patronage declaration of “making liquid funds available at any time”. Insolvency dates are feared above all to credit lines, the German subsidiary has been writing for years. In 2023 there was, for example, a shortfall of 126 million euros. “We have actually been deficient for ten years, we have not earned any money with the cars,” managing director Wassenberg recently had the F.A.Z. said. A debt mountain has accumulated in the amount of 5.8 billion euros over the years. This way, the financing of the location in Cologne has now been put onto new legs: Ford grants a capital contribution of 4.4 billion euros. In addition, a business plan for the next four years is financed with “several hundred million euros”. Due to the end of the patronage declaration, the Cologne Ford works are now as well as all other works in the group-without debt protection. For the employees in Cologne, there is a coverage by the end of 2032. However, according to the company, the new agreement provides that operating terminations are possible if all socially acceptable measures should be exhausted. If there are not enough workers who are voluntary, the company could still rely on operational terminations. However, the employees feared that the Cologne Ford works were bankrupt that such agreements were invalid-which was why strikes had also occurred. Now the waves should first be smoothed. “We thank all colleagues for their solidarity and trust in these difficult months,” said Dorthe Mika, the deputy chair of the overall works council.
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