ABB Alstom workers protest against restructuring

Employees of the Franco-Swiss power-generation equipment company ABB Alstom Power demonstrated in Brussels in April 2000 against the company's restructuring plans and its alleged failure to inform and consult the workforce about its intentions. The European Metalworkers Federation, which organised the protest, and the European Trade Union Confederation have called for the reinforcement of workers' information and consultation rights.

On 10 April 2000, more than 1,000 European employees of the Franco-Swiss power-generation equipment company ABB Alstom Power staged a demonstration in Brussels to protest against the company's restructuring plans. The rationalisation programme, entailing the loss of some 10,000 jobs worldwide, represents an 18% reduction in the global workforce and will have an impact on the 34,000 workers located in Europe. Some 1,500 job losses are expected in France, 1,361 in Germany, 549 in the UK, 479 in Sweden, 230 in Italy, 227 in Belgium (along with the closure of the Charleroi site), 104 in Norway and 20 in Spain. Unions are particularly angry because the organisation's moves to restructure have come despite a 14% increase in orders in 1999.

A delegation from the European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF), which organised the demonstration, met with Lars Vagman, the manager responsible for the restructuring process at the company. EMF demanded that ABB Alstom Power adhere to its pledge to maintain employment levels and called on the company to respect employee information and consultation rights during the restructuring process. Mr Vagman stated that restructuring was vital in order to enable the company to regain its competitiveness in the light of the overcapacity in certain sectors, such as turbines and steam boilers. Meanwhile, the ABB Alstom Power director of social relations, Brigitte Saint-Hillier, maintained that she shared the concerns of the union delegation, pledging that the company would take all the necessary steps to identify solutions best suited to each employee.

Following the meeting, EMF called on management to:

• begin a constructive consultation procedure at European level with the workers' representatives and EMF;

• guarantee that there would be no compulsory collective redundancies;

• create a European fund to examine new employment opportunities; and

• establish a European framework agreement providing measures to avoid redundancies when restructuring.

The general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Emilio Gabaglio, supported EMF's actions and said: "Following the cases of Renault [EU9703108F], Rover [UK0004164F], ABB Alstom Power and many others, it is becoming urgent for the Council to assume its responsibilities and strengthen workers' rights by adopting a Directive on worker information and consultation at the national level [this draft Directive was proposed by the Commission in November 1998 but so far has not been discussed by the Council (EU9911211F)] and rapidly proceed with the revision of the Directive on European Works Councils "(EU0001221N).

EMF has also criticised the role of the European Commission in approving the merger between ABB and Alstom in 1999, allegedly without taking into consideration the social and employment consequences of the merger, which have now become evident. The Commission faced the same criticism in February 2000 when the European Parliament adopted a resolution stating that in this case the Commission had not respected Article 127 of the European Community Treaty, which states that a high level of employment should be taken into consideration in the formulation and implementation of Community policies and activities (EU0003233N).