HMR staff in demonstration

26 January 1998 00:00  [Source: ICB]

Up to 8000 Hoechst Marion Roussel staff demonstrated outside the Hoechst industrial park in Frankfurt, Germany, on 16 January to protest against the loss of 600 research jobs at the site. The event was backed by a two-hour strike at the HMR R&D site at Romainville, north of Paris on 20 January where 307 jobs are expected to be lost. The largest protest action in the company's history was organised by IG Chemie Bergbau Energie and two other organisations. Although the board said it was 'impressed' by the turnout, it maintained that R&D must be revamped if Hoechst is to keep pace with change.

Frankfurt's mayor Petra Roth asked Hoechst to reconsider planned cuts in the 1999 budget. A spokesman for Hessian state governor Hans Eichel appealed to management to rethink its strategy. The Christian Democratic party reminded Hoechst of its social responsibility.

HMR's works council may take action against Hoechst for violating German labour law. The23 December decision to sell the Frankfurt-based penicillin fermentation activities should have been approved by the supervisory board of Hoechst Marion Roussel rather than the board of Hoechst, which no longer has any operative business, HMR works council claimed.

< previous article(ICIS Podcast: Chemical News Central 2 November 2009)

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly