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Germany: Union accepts ThyssenKrupp-Tata deal

By  |  February 5, 2018

On Monday, February 5, German workers approved their union’s results in talks with India’s Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp’s steel division ahead of a planned merger, but the vote does not remove all obstacles to the tie-up, reported Reuters.

Some 92.2% of IG Metall members polled agreed to executives’ guarantee not to slash jobs or close major sites until at least September 2026 if the fusion succeeds, the union said in a statement.

“We managed to clear up important points in favour of the employees,” said Detlef Wetzel, who sits on ThyssenKrupp Steel’s supervisory board as a worker representative.

Thyssenkrupp and Tata have said the deal will help them tackle overcapacity in Europe’s steel market, which faces cheap imports, subdued construction demand and inefficient old plants.

They have announced 4,000 job losses as part of the tie-up, split equally between the European operations of the two companies, but Thyssenkrupp has said it aims to implement the cuts without forced layoffs.

Full Content: Reuters

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