Airbus' German Workers Threaten Indus Action - Report
Associated Press Newswires 10/15/2006
Copyright 2006. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
BERLIN (AP)--Employees at Airbus in Germany will stage strikes if the aircraft manufacturer imposes any "unilateral cuts," their chief representative was quoted as saying Sunday.
Airbus is preparing a restructuring drive amid fallout from a new delay to the flagship A380 superjumbo. German officials have pushed for anticipated cost and job cuts to be shared fairly among Airbus' European sites.
"If there are unilateral cuts even at a single plant, we will open the torture chambers in solidarity at all the German facilities - in other words, strike," chief employee representative Ruediger Luetjen was quoted as telling the weekly magazine Focus in a preview of a report to be published Monday.
During a visit Thursday to the Airbus plant in Hamburg, its largest in Germany, new Airbus Chief Executive Louis Gallois sought to reassure employees, stressing no decision on any job cuts had yet been made.
However, he added, "this doesn't mean we will not have to make tough decisions."