There will be no naked layoffs, according to the management. The jobs will disappear due to natural attrition, for example by people who are retiring. “In Olen there are indeed a lot of older employees”, says Hans Vaneerdewegh of the socialist union. “So there are some people who can retire in the short term. Still, this will hit like a bomb, I think. The people did not see this coming.”
The unions will continue to inform the employees today. “There is still a lot of uncertainty,” says Vaneerdewegh. “We also hear that the management is partly counting on voluntary redundancies. We still have to negotiate anyway. We will see how that goes, and depending on that, actions may follow.”
Umicore also wants to stop the cobalt activities in America, in Alabama. There, 42 jobs would disappear.
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