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7 December, 1999Workers have accepted a social plan, thus bringing an end to the occupation of the factory.
GERMANY/FRANCE: Following the workers' occupation of the Berlin Alcatel cable factory, which began this past September, the company's top management has now agreed to a social plan which is also acceptable to the 140 workers concerned. (See associated link for earlier story.)
The French multinational's decision to close the Berlin plant led to the occupation of the site, and to widespread protests by the German metalworkers' union IG Metall, as well as all political authorities, the churches, media and general public. Berlin has already lost 300,000 industrial jobs over the past 10 years.
The plan includes a golden handshake payment which is much higher than what was originally offered, plus the creation of a group which is responsible for looking into questions of training, retraining and further employment for the laid-off workers.
The final settlement was arrived at in negotiations between the chief executive officer of Alcatel, Serge Tchuruk, with the chief executive officer of the company's German subsidiary and the IG Metall-led works council.
The French multinational's decision to close the Berlin plant led to the occupation of the site, and to widespread protests by the German metalworkers' union IG Metall, as well as all political authorities, the churches, media and general public. Berlin has already lost 300,000 industrial jobs over the past 10 years.
The plan includes a golden handshake payment which is much higher than what was originally offered, plus the creation of a group which is responsible for looking into questions of training, retraining and further employment for the laid-off workers.
The final settlement was arrived at in negotiations between the chief executive officer of Alcatel, Serge Tchuruk, with the chief executive officer of the company's German subsidiary and the IG Metall-led works council.