European jet maker Airbus is set to axe 10Â 000 of its 56Â 000 workforce as part of a cost-cutting operation to lift it out of a financial crisis.
The company said on Wednesday it will cut the jobs over four years: 4Â 300 in France, 3Â 700 in Germany, 1Â 600 in Britain and 400 in Spain. Trade unions have vowed to fight the restructuring.
The rescue plan, known as Power8, has caused serious political tensions between the French and German governments and led to a delay in its implementation. The plan is intended to save â,¬5-billion by 2010 and â,¬2,1-billion per year thereafter.
In a major reorganisation of Airbus manufacturing and assembling activities, the group said that the future A350 mid-size, long-haul airliner is to be built at a French factory in Toulouse, southern France. However, 50% of the manufacturing of the main components of the aircraft will be done by sub-contractors.
The biggest German factory in Hamburg is to increase its operations in assembling the A320 series of aircraft, in a switch of work from Toulouse, the company said.
Trade-union officials said the plan will damage the company, the world’s biggest maker of airliners in 2006 and chief rival of United States giant Boeing.
“The mobilisation [of workers] has to mushroom. If we allow Power8 through, it’s the ruin of Airbus,” said an official of the CGT union, Xavier Petrachi.
Airbus said that no direct redundancies are envisaged “at the moment”, meaning the company plans to rely on early retirement, voluntary departures and job transfers.
This way of cutting jobs had been requested by French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a meeting between the heads of state last Friday.
Union sources said Airbus has told staff that it decided to sell, or hand over to partners, six of its sites in Europe.
A spokesperson for the German government said that German interests have been safeguarded under the plan. Germany had been concerned that sensitivity about job losses in France in the run-up to presidential elections in the country in April and May would mean German workers would bear the brunt of the cutbacks.
“We have succeeded in protecting German interests,” spokesperson Thomas Steg said.
Problems at Airbus, a subsidiary of European group EADS, were exposed by long delays in production of the A380 superjumbo airliner. Deliveries of the A380 are two years behind schedule, putting a severe strain on Airbus’s finances and damaging the company’s reputation among clients and investors.
The group is expected to report an operating loss for 2006, a sharp turnaround in its fortunes after years of bumper profits.
Union representatives of staff in the cross-frontier group met in Brussels on Tuesday to plan their strategies to fight cutbacks and hinted that the first strike could be only weeks away.
Early on Wednesday, the works committee at Airbus, which by law must be informed and consulted of significant management plans, met at the group’s headquarters at Toulouse to hear company president Louis Gallois present the details of Power8. Nearly 25 representatives from unions in Airbus in France, Germany, Britain and Spain attended the meeting.
EADS is controlled by French shareholders media group Lagardere and the French state, and German shareholder car maker DaimlerChrysler. The two sides own 22,5% each.
Analysts say that the restructuring plan brings the strategy of Airbus into line with that of its main competitor, Boeing. Since 2000, Boeing has focused on doing only the most important assembly and commercial work and has outsourced much of its manufacturing to sub-contractors. — AFP