On 28 September, unions and management at car producer Ford in Genk signed an agreement guaranteeing job security until 2020. The unions have agreed to put their signature to a savings plan. In return the management is offering the workforce job security to 4,500 workers; the plant will assemble three new models, versions of the Mondeo, Galaxy and S-Max. Personnel costs will be cut by 12%. In the years to come wage increases will be 2% lower than envisaged, and facilities such as free company coach travel and the works canteen will be scrapped. Rohnny Champagne of the ABVV Metal Union said that the workforce was in broad agreement with the plan, though some people were unhappy about the loss of wage increases. He added that the promise of job security until 2020 of course made the medicine more acceptable. If one of the three new models planned for the plant is not a success, a fourth new model is held in prospect.
Dutch: http://www.abvvmetaal.be/index.php?option …
For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI atwww.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2009.