Car Factory Update

Short wildcat strikes & temp work in European car factories

Successful strike at Opel-GM in Antwerp

Particularly on the background of the GM managements threat of global mass redundancies this short strike demanding less work and more people employed is quite exceptional. On 31st of March the majority of the day-shift decided to lay down tools in order to protest against the work load and to demand additional workers be employed. The strike started in the body-shop and spread to the whole plant. Production stopped. At a meeting unions and management agreed on hiring 80 additional temp workers. The workers decided to continue the action because the company did not promise to pay the hours lost due to the walk out. Production was resumed the following Monday. 



http://www.rf-news.de/rfnews/aktuell/Betrieb_und_Gewerkschaft/article_html/News_Item.2006-04-03.3113

Wildcat strike at DaimlerCrysler smart-manufacturer NedCar


The Dutch manufacturer NedCar is a joint-venture of DaimlerCrysler and Mitsubishi. In the plant in Born near Maastricht about 3,000 workers produce the Smart-ForFour and Mitsubishi Colt. Daimler Crysler decided to stop selling the Smart-Forfour and Mitsubishi announced cutting one of the two shifts in the factory, in order to save 4.5 Million Euros a month. This would result in 1,000 jobs being lost. On the 3rd of April workers of the morning shift staged a spontaneous strike in protest against the job cuts. The union called for return to work and for patience till negotiations between union and management continue on the 12th of April.


http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/dyn/news/wirtschaft/610652.html


http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2006-04/artikel-6226492.asp

http://www.nachrichten.ch/detail/238197.htm

Study on temp-work in German car industry

A recent study on temp work in the German automobile industry reveals that the companies in this sector try to hide the fact that they employ temp-workers. Temp-work does not appear in most of the companies annual economic reports, although 86 per cent of automobile companies make use of it. Apart from temporary contracts (normally limited to half a year), in the car sector temp work is the only other mode of hiring new people. In absolute numbers about 60,000 temp workers are employed. About 17 per cent of all workers in production are hired through temp agencies, a much higher ratio than in any other sector. The study "Flexibilität durch Zeitarbeit als Wettbewerbsfaktor in der Automobilindustrie" (flexibility achieved through temp work as a competitive factor in the automobile industry)was undertaken with the support of the temp agency Randstad, which alone employs 7,000 workers in the German car industry. Temp work is not the only option for hire-and-fire: recently DaimlerCrysler in Stuttgart had to face the problem of having too little staff. After months of downsizing they had to hire new people, they opted for short term contracts rather than hiring through temp agencies. The management was looking for 1,500 people willing to sign a three months contract. Despite the comparatively high wages they seemed to have had problems finding (the right) people within a short period of time.

[prol-position news #6 | 7/2006]