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Airbus workers protest over cuts | |
(1 day later) | |
Thousands of Airbus workers have taken to the streets across Europe in a fresh wave of protests against job cuts planned at the struggling firm. | |
Staff in France, Germany, the UK and Spain stopped work in a co-ordinated series of demonstrations against plans to cut 10,000 jobs. | |
There have been regular stoppages since Airbus revealed its radical retrenchment plan earlier this month. | |
Airbus says its costs are too high and must be reduced to speed up production. | |
Widespread anger | |
Airbus has fallen behind main rival Boeing in terms of new orders and the huge cost of building its new A380 and A350 models is weighing it down. | |
It is proposing to sell or close three of its 16 European factories and is looking for new investment partners for a further three sites. | It is proposing to sell or close three of its 16 European factories and is looking for new investment partners for a further three sites. |
Tens of thousands of workers vented their anger at the scale of the proposed cuts, designed to save 5bn euros by 2010. | |
We have shown that workers at the European level are speaking with a single voice Peter Scherrer, European Metalworkers Federation | |
Union officials said 25,000 people gathered in the centre of Hamburg, where the company's principal German plant is located, although police put the figure at closer to 10,000. | |
Mass demonstrations also took place at four sites in France, including the firm's home city of Toulouse, and at seven locations in Spain. | |
The European Metalworkers Federation said all its staff belonging to affiliated unions at factories in France and Germany participated in the action. | |
"We have shown that workers at the European level are speaking with a single voice," said Peter Scherrer, the Federation's director. | |
The stoppages are designed to keep the pressure on the firm's management and elicit political support ahead of presidential elections in France next month. | The stoppages are designed to keep the pressure on the firm's management and elicit political support ahead of presidential elections in France next month. |
Germany's IG Metall union said it was waiting for more details of the restructuring proposals from management so that it could propose "better solutions". | |
Airbus has pledged not to enforce any compulsory redundancies, saying half the cuts will be made among temporary staff and sub-contractors. | Airbus has pledged not to enforce any compulsory redundancies, saying half the cuts will be made among temporary staff and sub-contractors. |
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