For the first time in nearly a century, a union-led strike has brought production at Ford’s Cologne plant to a standstill. Workers are protesting planned job cuts as the company struggles with low EV sales and rising costs in Europe.
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00:00No one is getting in anymore.
00:02The production lines have come to a halt
00:04as the union sets up picket lines at the plant's gates early Wednesday.
00:09According to the union, the walkout affects the entire site,
00:12including production, development and administration.
00:16The workers here are resisting the planned job cuts.
00:19One in four positions is to be eliminated by the end of 2027.
00:24Everyone here is protesting against these management plans.
00:30I'm very outspoken about us fighting for our jobs.
00:36That's what the colleagues want above all, to fight for our jobs.
00:41The plant should be preserved because it's important for the entire region.
00:46Fort belongs to Cologne, just like the cathedral.
00:49Both must remain.
00:51For decades, the Fort Fiesta, a bestseller, was built here,
00:55but its production discontinued in 2023.
00:58The company invested nearly 2 billion euros in new electric car production lines,
01:04but so far the investment has not paid off.
01:07The sales of the two electric car models manufactured here
01:10have fallen short of expectations.
01:12We'll continue to fight for the future of electric mobility,
01:18especially here in Cologne at the Ford plant.
01:23Experts remain sceptical about the company's future prospects in Europe.
01:28Sales volumes are too low and personnel costs too high,
01:32says the Car Automotive Institute in Bochum.
01:35The union is demanding high severance payments for employees
01:39who leave Ford voluntarily
01:41or whose units are outsourced to external service providers.
01:45Those who stay, the union says,
01:47should be protected by a financial safety net.
01:51Although this is regarded as the first strike in a century,
01:55there was a so-called wildcat strike
01:57at the Ford plant in Cologne in 1973,
01:59a walkout not organised by any union.
02:03Back then, thousands of mainly Turkish-born workers
02:06went on strike to demand higher wages and longer vacations.
02:10This time, it's about the livelihoods of many more people.
02:14The strike is scheduled to last
02:15until the end of the final night shift on Thursday morning.