A major Ford union says production has restarted at its Genk plant in Belgium – but that simmering resentment means manufacturing speed is not running at 100%.
Ford Genk had been at a standstill following a walk out from its suppliers, who feared they would not be included in the same social plan as the main factory’s 4,300 workers, who face redundancy as the automaker looks to end production next year.
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“I think right now, after one and a half shifts, they produce something around 500 cars, what they should produce in one shift, it is at a slower pace,” ABVV union provincial president, Rohnny Champagne, told just-auto from Belgium.
“We reached a break-through and found a solution to make sure the ten days they stood outside [on strike], they got the same money for it. Underneath [however] the resistance is still there.
“They think about themselves as if they were treated as second rate employees.”
The suppliers have now returned to work, notes the ABVV labour body, which claims one, unnamed, operation is deliberately operating a slower pace, forcing the overall production rate to slow.
[There are] “Quite [a] radical group of guys out there,” said Champagne. “They want some guarantee for example, Ford will keep working until the end of 2014.“We just ended mediation with one of the four. It is always difficult after a period of workers standing on the picket line to leave that kind of war in your head and go back to a normal situation.
“On the other hand, there is no other possibility than to negotiate your way out of this.”
