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Germany: Thyssenkrupp steelworkers protest against Tata merger plan

By  |  May 4, 2017

Thousands of Thyssenkrupp steelworkers protested on Wednesday against the German industrial group’s plan to merge its European steel operations with those of India’s Tata Steel.

The two companies have been talking since last year about a merger they say would support steel prices and raise efficiency by taking excess capacity out of the market. Trade unions fear large-scale job losses and question the logic of a deal.

“I find it intolerable the way that Thyssenkrupp is talking the steel business into the ground,” said Detlef Wetzel, the representative of trade union IG Metall on Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe’s supervisory board.

“With friends like our management, who needs enemies?” he asked at a demonstration at Thyssenkrupp’s steel headquarters in the German city of Duisburg,

IG Metall, which said about 7,500 steelworkers attended the demonstration, fears 4,000 out of the 27,000 jobs at Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe will be lost if the merger goes ahead.

Full Content: Bloomberg

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