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Political
The swift convening of a non-partisan industrial summit demanded Upper Austria’s SPÖ state president Birgit Gerstorfer on Monday. To save the industrial site, it is now necessary to act actively.
“It’s about preserving domestic jobs and also saving those that are currently in jeopardy,” Gerstorfer told a news conference Monday morning. The coronavirus crisis brought great challenges and the structural change in the industry also intensified: “Now, however, several corporations are using the situation to implement a restructuring that is not exclusively due to Corona and is costing a huge number of positions of job”.
Possible state involvement
ÖVP, FPÖ and Greens are too slow and hesitant with their proposals. Offering a job base to those affected by the layoffs is not enough, according to Gerstorfer, who also puts the state at stake.
The industry spokesman for the SPÖ Upper Austria and chairman of the voestalpine group works council, Hans-Karl Schaller, added that really tough times in the labor market are yet to come. He criticized that corporations were partially using the coronavirus crisis to relocate from Austria to low-wage countries, while at the same time promising high dividends to their shareholders.
“Breaking a taboo” in MAN
In connection with the planned closure of MAN in Steyr, Schaller spoke of a taboo that was broken with the termination of the location guarantee agreement by the company: “Until now, VW and MAN have always been loyal to everything. You can really trust that. It is the first time that it no longer adheres to these contracts ”. It was a deal between the staff and the management of the company, in which, as a commitment to guarantee the location, flexible production hours were decided.
