Friday, January 07, 2022
Tough wrestling with the owner
MV trembles about his shipyards
Late salaries, suspended stock trading and no solution to the dispute with the owner: Almost 2,000 employees at MV Werften continue to worry about their jobs. The corona crisis has put the owner in difficult waters.
For MV Werften in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the situation is worsening: A rescue package is still in the air due to disagreements between the federal government and the owner. As the IG Metall announced, the management in Wismar has informed the employees that the wages and salaries for December will not be paid until next week. The fact that the shares of the shipyard owner Genting in Hong Kong are suspended from trading is also causing tension. The reason is an announcement about information from the company, as it was called in a message from the group.
Meanwhile, the federal government is fighting with the Asian owner to save the ailing shipyards with more than 1900 jobs. The federal government does not want to move away from its demand for a personal contribution from the owner, it was said from political circles. “We stand by the side of the company and its employees in order to get through these difficult times together. It is now only up to the owners to make an appropriate contribution,” said State Secretary for Economic Affairs Udo Philipp. The owner, Genting Hong Kong, is currently not ready for this. The owners lacked a clear commitment to their shipyard, said Philipp.
600 million euros in government aid?
The federal government had already submitted a financing proposal to rescue the ailing shipyards in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Bremerhaven before Christmas. The aim is to secure jobs in a structurally weak region with little industry. Specifically, the huge cruise ship “Global Class 1” should be completed with around 600 million euros from the economic stabilization fund. In return, the Ministry of Economic Affairs asked the owner to make a contribution of 60 million euros. The ship was to be used as security for the federal financial injection. The owner refuses to do anything to save his shipyards himself.
The employees of MV Werften now have to worry about the continuation of shipbuilding and thus about their professional future. According to the union, they currently have to wait for their December wages. The management announced that although 30 million euros were in the shipyard’s accounts, the wages could not be paid for legal reasons, said Stefan Schad from IG Metall after a staff meeting in Wismar.
According to NDR, Stralsund, as one of three shipyard locations in the northeast, is now assuming that no more ships will be built in the Hanseatic city on Strelasund, regardless of the outcome of the hanging part. The reason is missing orders. The municipality is already negotiating with the owner about the sale of the shipyard site and is looking for investors for new industrial establishments.
Genting acquired the shipyards in Rostock, Wismar and Stralsund in 2016 in response to the then booming cruise market in order to have ships built there for the Group’s own shipping companies. But with the collapse of the industry as a result of the Corona crisis, the Asian parent company ran into difficulties that continue to this day.