Ford Europe has introduced it can impose savage assaults on employees’ wages and situations regardless of which plant—Almussafes in Spain or Saarlouis in Germany—“wins” the inter-company bidding conflict supported by each German and Spanish commerce unions.
The announcement confirms the warnings of the WSWS. Since Ford introduced the bidding conflict in December 2021, the WSWS has known as on employees to reject the blackmail and brutal competitors being instigated by the commerce unions between employees in several crops, insisting that enjoying one off towards the opposite would solely result in catastrophe and open the door to a downward spiral with out finish. In the long run, there can be no “successful” manufacturing facility.
The WSWS has insisted that the one manner employees in Germany, Spain and internationally can defend jobs is thru a typical battle collectively towards the commerce unions and works council representatives, who’ve pushed by all of the company’s assaults towards the workforce in recent times with their nationalistic divide-and-rule insurance policies. The warnings of the WSWS have been absolutely substantiated.
In an open letter addressed to the workforce, the president of Ford Europe, Stuart Rowley, warned that “it’s foreseeable” that each crops “should endure a resizing of their present construction,” regardless of which manufacturing facility produces the brand new electrical vehicles for Ford Europe. “Each Saarlouis and Valencia are anticipated to endure downsizing from their present construction. Actual particulars won’t be obtainable till we’ve chosen a most well-liked plant,” added Rowley. That date is June 2022.
Rowley cynically acknowledged that successful a manufacturing facility won’t imply “a call to shut” the shedding plant, because the multinational is “actively searching for future alternatives for the plant that isn’t chosen,” one thing that can require “an effort that features a number of events, together with native and nationwide governments.” Rowley additionally famous that job cuts “can be a tough course of for a lot of staff concerned.”
In different phrases, Ford Europe will implement huge job cuts on the shedding plant, whereas the successful one could have “gained” due to the union-sponsored wage slashes and worsening of labor situations. Rowley’s claims that plant closure is just not on the desk have to be taken with a grain of salt. Over the previous decade, manufacturing has already been halted in Belgium, France and Wales, and 4 crops have been closed in Russia. Only in the near past, Ford introduced it was ending manufacturing in India and Brazil.
Rowley additionally famous that “whatever the plant that’s finally chosen, it is very important keep in mind that it isn’t but a product funding choice” and that after the collection of the plant will probably be “a variety of work to be finished to safe the product for Europe.” Because of this even the successful plant can be known as upon to make extra cuts to safe Ford’s investments within the manufacturing facility.
Rowley’s letter underscores the reactionary position of the commerce unions and the lifeless finish of a nationwide perspective for battle. Each IG Metall in Germany and the Normal Union of Staff (UGT) in Spain have collaborated with the corporate’s plans, supporting Ford’s bidding conflict. The unions’ technique has meant that not solely one of many factories might shut, however the “successful” one will fireplace extra employees along with struggling different labor and wage cuts on high of these beforehand agreed with those self same unions.
In Germany, IG Metall has not offered any particulars of its supply. It’s identified that it has provided to incorporate all employees in Germany within the cuts, together with, in addition to these in Saarlouis, on the essential plant in Cologne that employs 21,000.
In Spain, the UGT, the bulk union within the Valencian manufacturing facility, signed the so-called electrification settlement with Ford administration by which it agrees to scale back wages, make work shifts extra versatile and enhance the working day by quarter-hour. With the present inflation price, employees might lose €4,000 this yr alone with the applying of the electrification settlement.
The union has refused to carry a vote on the settlement, fearing mass opposition. To avoid wasting face, the UGT organised a fraudulent session the place the employees needed to register with their identify and ID to vote electronically by an utility managed by the union itself in order that their vote could be identified to the union bureaucrats, exposing them to doable future retaliation.
The settlement has been denounced by the native metalworkers union STM along with the opposite two minority unions, the Normal Confederation of Labor (CGT) and Staff Commissions (CCOO). Nonetheless, these unions don’t oppose the bidding conflict. STM stated, “we ask that the events sit down once more to have one other settlement that doesn’t depart the employees so badly off.” That’s, they settle for the framework of the assaults—the bidding conflict with Saarlouis—however are hoping for marginally higher phrases.
Since Rowley’s letter, the unions have continued shamelessly serving enterprise pursuits. The European Works Council run by the UGT and IG Metall have ludicrously known as for 30-minute stoppages to let off steam.
These stoppages will not be even meant to oppose the introduced job cuts however to “alert the native and European Ford administration earlier than resorting to the present laws in every nation [to enforce job cuts] to decide to looking for all doable options and on a voluntary foundation.” The unions state they’re “conscious” that “as soon as the transformation in direction of electrification begins, a excessive surplus of personnel can be generated all through Ford Europe.”
That’s, they help the measures proposed by Ford and solely ask that earlier than dismissing employees, they make the cuts in employees by voluntary redundancies if doable.
None of that is new. The commerce unions have been making ready these cuts along with the corporate administration for a very long time. In November 2020, the European Works Council already signed a declaration with Ford committing “wherever it’s essential to make employees changes,” however “to the extent doable, apply a voluntary strategy.”
However voluntary dismissals, in the event that they lastly happen, will not be an answer and can hardly restrict the broader disaster. A 2016 research by the European College of Valencia indicated that for each job created on the Almussafes plant, one other 5.8 are created within the Valencian Neighborhood and 11.7 in Spain as a complete. Thus, the 6,038 Ford Almussafes employees generate some 70,644 jobs in Spain. Thus any discount within the workforce could have a major influence on Valencia, identical to closures or job cuts in Saarlouis would devastate the working class in Germany.
Final March, the Economia Digital newspaper revealed leaked info from the corporate indicating that, though Almussafes would manufacture the brand new Mustang electrical car mannequin from 2026, 3,000 jobs—half the workforce—could be misplaced.
For employees to battle Ford Europe and defend their jobs and buying energy, it’s important to interrupt with the rotten union bureaucracies and organise an impartial battle, uniting employees in Spain, Germany and internationally.
The Ford Rank-and-File Committee in Saarlouis has known as for an impartial battle uniting employees in each Germany and Spain towards job cuts and plant closures. The union bureaucracies like Ford administration are frightened of a united battle within the working class. In response, in a video revealed in February to justify its anti-worker position, the UGT slandered the WSWS, which helps the Ford Rank-and-File Committee in Saarlouis, accusing its protection of falsifying the content material of the negotiations.
Towards the slanders of the union bureaucrats who negotiate behind employees’ backs, the Ford Rank-and-File Committee is demanding an instantaneous halt to the bidding conflict, the disclosure of all agreements or declarations of intent made to this point, and the withdrawal of all concessions.
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