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Actually, it should be tumultuous Siemens Annual general meeting for years. Because group’s endangered workers threatened with turmoil, re are a number of police officers with ir dogs in front of Munich Olympia Hall this morning. But y meet only about 100 workers who are largely silently protesting. In yellow and pink warning vests y stand trellis in front of entrance of hall, occasionally blowing one into his whistle. Among demonstrators is a troop of 35 employees who have been ennobled for hundreds of kilometers. From Görlitz, gas turbine plant, which group wants to close soon. In Munich you want to show: we still have a lot of energy! We fight for our jobs!
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Even your colleagues from Erfurt and Offenbach – locations where Siemens also wants to paint massive jobs – hold only dumb signs in ir hands: “We are Siemens – and we want to remain so.” But group will not let you do that soon.
In November, Siemens announced that it would delete around 6,900 jobs worldwide, of which around half are in Germany. The 2017 business figures show that group was able to write second record year. The profit from Siemens rose by 11 percent to 6.2 billion euros. Joe Kaeser, CEO of group, emphasizes this morning in Munich several times: “Siemens is as good as ever.” He can’t resist a happy smile.
Neverless, company wants to delete thousands of jobs and “make painful cuts” in power plant division, as board and Supervisory board call it. For power plant and turbine, business is running poorly. Pretty bad. “There will be considerable personnel restructuring expenses”, it is in annual report. The works in Görlitz and Leipzig are to be closed, cuts will be made in Offenbach and Berlin, Erfurt plant will be sold. This was described as irresponsible by SPD chief Martin Schulz in November: “To make us a little more profit, we throw people out. That’s anti. “
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Then last week at World Economic Summit in Davos Kaeser sat next to US president Donald Trump at dinner and said to cameras, Siemens congratulate Trump on company reform (which actually means that group has about 20 billion euros in taxes be spared) and will manufacture its new generation of gas turbines in USA. This has been known since June. Neverless, many employees in threatened German works felt statements of Siemens boss as mockery.
In Germany, jobs are being dismantled while Trump and US are now being thrown behind? “Is this really being serious?”, ask IG Metallers in Munich and criticize “predator capitalism”. At lectern, lawyer Daniela Bailey, representative of Shareholder Association DSW, makes air of her anger: “Mr Kaeser, I would like to take your responsibility: look for anor solution.” The group would have had to communicate better, “and ir statements at Trump dinner were not exactly suitable for smoothing tides,” she directs head of group. Applause is on fire, some whistling applause.
Human and margin must be consistent
Some shareholder representatives demand that Board, in particular Kaeser, should not be relieved from vote. The announced job cuts had not only been communicated unhappily, but it was not responsible for removing jobs in structurally weak regions, while at same time making billions of profits. This calls for doubts about social order. Winfried Mas from Dekabank says: “Man and Marge must be consistent. It is not allowed to subordinate everything to return, but also not to risk success of company. ” But those are toughest attacks on Joe Kaeser.
This morning, it looks quiet, sometimes tense. And he picks up accusations in his speech: re has been a massive slump in field of conventional power plants, sales have decreased, and profits have even shrunk by half. “The business development shows that need for action in power and gas has become necessary, even more urgent.” This is not just a temporary downturn in market and not a Siemens problem, but a fundamental structural change. And Siemens should not be overslept – just as it had missed change of telecommunications business years ago.
Job cuts-Siemens wants to delete 6,900 jobs at general meeting of group, Siemens chief Kaeser has defended planned job cuts. Claims that all Siemens plants are profitable are a myth. © Photo: Sven Hoppe/DPA
