Ford Cologne strike over job cuts

DW (English)

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.

Transcript

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.

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