Nexteer Automotive says its Polish industrial relations are now back on an even keel after a dispute last year in its Eastern European plant.
The electric power steering supplier based in Tychy near Krakow was taken over in 2010 by Chinese company PCM, a move that appears to have triggered the unrest with Polish union Solidarnosc.
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“Our industrial relations stem primarily from our change of ownership,” Nexteer president and CEO Bob Remenar told just-auto on the sidelines of this year’s Automotive News World Congress China panel in Detroit.
“Now we have stability of ownership, we are not seeing the same issues. People were nervous – we want to treat our workforce with dignity.”
The dispute last year saw Nexteer Poland provide an extra month’s severance pay in the case of any company reorganisation – based on Polish rules in such circumstances – but there was no walk-out.
In addition to his Poland comments, Remenar noted to just-auto that Nexteer was “definitely looking to expand in Europe.”
The takeover by Chinese company PCM was previously described by Nexteer as the “single largest Chinese investment in the global automotive supplier industry.”
