A spokesman for German metalworkers union IG Metall said that despite interest from multiple parties for Manroland’s three manufacturing sites in Augsburg, Offenbach and Plauen, it was accepted that it would not be possible to save all jobs.
He added that MAN and Allianz had now said that they will provide €24m ($29.8m) to finance redundancy payments, but that it was difficult to say whether that would be sufficient given that there are no figures available for how many employees might lose their jobs.
Reports indicate that the manufacturer could make up to 2,000 staff redundant, with the job cuts expected to be announced ahead of the 1 February start date for bankruptcy proceedings, at which time the liquidator will be obliged to begin paying the wages of Manroland’s 6,500 employees, which are currently being paid by the German state.
It is understood that the €24m redundancy pot will only be available to employees of Manroland in Germany, with overseas staff such as those at Manroland GB ineligible after having been left to fend for themselves by their former parent.
Last week the court-appointed administrator to Manroland, Werner Schneider, announced that he had received “serious interest” in all three manufacturing sites and was in ongoing negotiations with the bidders.
He added that the “sale of key company segments by the end of current insolvency proceedings on 31 January” remained a “feasible aim” but that “nothing had been signed yet”.
Meanwhile, a report by the World Socialist Web Site (wsws.org), claimed that Shanghai Electric, the owner of Manroland’s rival web offset press manufacturer Goss, has expressed an interest in the Augsburg plant but that this interest was not genuine.
The website, which is published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), claimed that Shanghai Electric is primarily interested in Manroland’s spare parts and service business, which it would use as a platform to grow its European market share.
It adds that the companies have been locked in a bitter price war and that Manroland “is now offering prices up to 30 percent below the current market prices”. The ICFI alleges that Shanghai Electric has instructed Goss management to “aggressively counter all projects and bids by Manroland” and intends to put a stop to price-cutting by tendering a bid for Manroland and then closing the German plant.
For the full article from the ICFI, click here.
It is understood that the €24m redundancy pot will only be available to employees of Manroland in Germany, with overseas staff such as those at Manroland GB ineligible after having been left to fend for themselves by their former parent.
This article originally appeared at printweek.com
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