Crisis in Berlin's industry: Stadler asks its employees for help

From the assembly worker to the boss - everyone should make a contribution to help their employer to get better again. This is what the rail vehicle manufacturer Stadler is asking its employees in the capital region to do. This was announced on Monday during a two-hour works meeting at the Stadler plant in Pankow. Now they are discussing what the contribution should look like. There are a number of options, it was said.

One option would be for all employees to forego part of their wages or salary. Working time and break regulations as well as bonuses could be further adjustments. Job cuts are not ruled out in principle, but should be avoided if possible, according to company sources.

"Despite good capacity utilization and important future projects for the Berlin-Brandenburg site, Stadler Germany is under considerable economic pressure," the company said afterwards. In order to strengthen its competitiveness in the tough international competition, it must optimize its cost structure and processes. The goal is to strengthen the industrial location in the long term. "This affects all areas at the sites in Berlin, Velten and Hennigsdorf," it said. And it is very urgent.

Corona, Inflation – and the Russian War of Aggression against Ukraine

"Stadler Germany's business development is under considerable pressure. We are still suffering from the serious consequences of the collapse of supply chains as a result of the pandemic, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and the resulting price increases for energy and raw materials. The resulting inflation has led to higher salaries," said Jure Mikolčić, CEO of Stadler Germany. "This situation has led to an unfavorable chain of events with production at full capacity and has exacerbated the economic situation. In order to sustainably strengthen Stadler's competitiveness in Germany as an industrial location, we must now decide on drastic measures and implement them quickly."

Stadler will discuss this with employee representatives and the industrial union Metalworkers. Its first representative and managing director in Berlin, Jan Otto, attended the works meeting in Pankow. The amount of the staff contribution has not yet been quantified. This will also be a topic of discussion.

"We are aware that these are not easy decisions. Nevertheless, there is no alternative because we want to do everything we can to secure the future of Berlin as a location in the long term," said Jörg Nuttelmann, head of the location. The measures are intended to reduce costs in all areas and increase efficiency. "The aim is to strengthen the international competitiveness of the location in Germany. In order to avoid job cuts, the planned measures must be implemented quickly and consistently and a significant contribution must be made by employees," he demanded.

New subways for the BVG are to be delivered this year

Nuttelmann assured that future projects and ongoing production processes would not be affected by the measures. Modern trains for the Berlin subway are expected to be delivered and go into operation this year.

Since its launch in 2001 in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region, Stadler has increased the number of employees from 197 to currently around 2,000 - without ever having laid off any employees, the company announced. With the expanded plant and the associated investments of over 100 million euros, the conditions have been created to shape the sustainable mobility of tomorrow with technical excellence, creativity and innovative strength, it said.