Status: 02/01/2022 2:45 p.m
After a long dispute, the aircraft manufacturer Airbus and IG Metall have agreed on a package to secure jobs at the German locations. By the end of 2030, there should be no redundancies.
The labor dispute that has been smoldering for months about the conversion of civil aircraft production at Airbus has come to an end. The aviation group and IG Metall have agreed to maintain and further develop the German locations until the end of 2030. Until then, redundancies for operational reasons are also excluded.
This was preceded by around ten months of disputes with numerous warning strikes and seven rounds of negotiations.
New subsidiary for aircraft assembly
Airbus can now implement its original plan to combine the assembly of aircraft fuselages and structures in Germany in a subsidiary. The still unnamed subsidiary, called “ASA” internally, will have around 12,000 employees and will have its headquarters in Hamburg. It includes parts of the largest German Airbus site in Hamburg, the Airbus plant in Stade and the Airbus subsidiary Premium Aerotec (PAG) with sites in Bremen and Nordenham. A comparable structure was implemented in France with the new subsidiary Airbus Atlantic at the beginning of the year.
The sale of the PAG plants in Varel and Augsburg was also a point of contention. On this issue, employers and employees agreed that the takeover bid by Muhr und Bender KG (Mubea) should be negotiated by the end of March. If a sale fails, the locations are also to be integrated into the new subsidiary by 2025.
“Fair Compromise”
IG Metall district manager Daniel Friedrich praised the result as a “fair compromise” and a “win-win situation” for everyone involved. Lars Immisch, Airbus Head of Human Resources for Germany, spoke of a “good result”. It strengthens the Group and Germany as a location and creates perspectives for employees. The group’s restructuring plans had caused considerable unrest among the Airbus workforce.
Airbus hopes that the bundling of individual part production will improve focus and control. The division will play a central role in the sharp increase in production figures planned for the coming years and the construction of new generations of zero-emission aircraft, the group explained.