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23 January, 2006
ICEM affiliate IGBCE has proposed mediation conducted by well-respected German politicians now that talks broke off between the union and Continental Tyre. Negotiations failed on 11 January in efforts to prevent 320 job cuts by year end at the Stöcken plant in Hannover, as announced by the company in November.
IGBCE was outraged by press remarks made by Continental CEO Manfred Wennemer at the outset of those talks in which he predicted German workers in the future will work 42.5 hours a week, and have two weeks less of vacation. Wennemer also remarked that the world could not care less about Conti’s broken agreement made with IGBCE last spring in which the company gained flexible work rules and a 40-hour week in exchange for a pledge of no job cuts.
IGBCE board member Werner Bischoff, vice president of Conti’s Supervisory Board, said Wennemer “poured oil on to the fire” with his comments, and called on the CEO to apologise. On 13 January, the company’s European Works Council members pledged to interpret with scrupulous accuracy the council’s constitution and legal rules, intending to make Conti’s normal business practices impossible. The central works council in Germany also took action by refusing to allow overtime work and opening health and safety inspections to civil authorities.
A mass demonstration protesting the company’s broken promise takes place today, 23 January, in Hannover, with workers’ meetings also occurring today at all Continental plants to discuss Wennemer’s remarks and the Stöcken situation