HMR German job cuts deal "not world model"
14 May 1998 15:54 [Source: ICIS news]
LONDON (CNI)--The agreement struck between Hoechst Marion
Roussel (HMR) Deutschland and its works council over job cuts is
not necessarily a model for the restructuring of rest of the group
worldwide, a spokesman for HMR Deutschland told CNI
Thursday.
"This is a solution for only here in Germany," he said. A deal
was struck Wednesday in which Hoechst pledged to reduce the number
of job cuts from 600 to 300. The programme will be carried out
without any compulsory redundancies until 2002. Exceptions may be
made in "financial emergencies" but HMR Deutschland has ruled out
the possibility of this occurring.
In addition, the company will invest DM110m ($61.8m) a year in
existing sites and will offer 100 training places each year. The
deal will reduce the group's payroll from the current level of 6650
to 5900. Sale of the bulk penicillin business will account for 450
of the jobs.
The agreement has been hailed as a victory for the workforce by
works council president Arnold Weber, who said it would not have
happened without employee protests. He said HMR Deutschland has
conceded that cutting 600 jobs in Frankfurt "did not make sense"
and that the annual cost reduction target of DM85m could be met "in
other ways".
While Weber remarked that HMR Germany has shown more sensitivity
to employee concerns than global management, Ralf Sikorski of the
chemical union IG BCE suggested that the pact could serve as a
model for the rest of the group.
In January, HMR announced a DM460m cost-cutting programme was
intended to realise more than 1700 research and development job
losses worldwide.
ICIS Copyright © Reed Business Information 2009
Author: Bill Macdonald+44 208 652 3214
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