the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Jan 7, 2019
Ford just announced plans to eliminate 1,600 jobs at its plant in Saarlouis, Germany, near the French border. This plant has 6,700 workers who make the Ford Focus. Six hundred workers will be laid off, 600 workers with temporary contracts will not have them renewed, and another 400 workers who are retiring will not be replaced.
These job losses are huge for this region. The plant is only 11 kilometers from Creutzwald, a town in France, and 800 workers from France work at the plant. The Saarlouis plant is the second largest employer in the region, after auto parts maker ZF with 8,400 workers. These workers fear they are likely to be affected too.
Ford’s stated aim is to cut costs. It will stop the limited production of the C-Max at Saarlouis, and reduce the number of workers on the Focus production lines. This will obviously have consequences as well for the 2,500 workers at nearby subcontractors who supply the factory.
Last year Ford made 7.6 billion dollars in profits, the highest since 2013. Ford has no need to cut costs, except that it will increase profits for the stockholders.
Workers have no reason to accept losing jobs in order to increase these already gigantic profits!