Almost a year after the insolvency of the MV Werften Group in January 2022, the employee representatives are still not satisfied with what has been achieved. “Little light and a lot of shadows. Unfortunately, you have to take note of that,” said Daniel Friedrich, district manager of IG Metall Coast, the German Press Agency.
Despite a very successful search for a buyer for the three shipyard locations in Wismar, Rostock and Stralsund, from the point of view of the insolvency administrator, little has happened in terms of employment contracts. According to IG Metall, just 600 of the top 3,100 employees at the MV shipyards have found a new employer. Most recently, there were still 900 employees in the transfer company, which was extended until the end of January 2023.
According to Friedrich Stralsund, the biggest problem child remains. He has the feeling that the city has no industrial concept. Stralsund acquired the site in order to develop a maritime commercial area there. There is also a lack of site management. From the point of view of the union, it remains piecemeal that does not interlock.
From the previous up to a thousand employees, only 20 to 30 have found a new job at the site. Above all, the union regrets that no solution was found for the trainees. Their continued employment was secured in Wismar and Rostock.
Things are looking better in Wismar in particular, where a medium-term job bridge for up to 650 people beckons with the recent sale of the not yet completed cruise ship “Global Dream” to the American Disney group. Here too, however, there is still no certainty. Once the ship has been completed, the submarine builder Thyssen-Krupp-Marine-Systems (TKMS) will take over the site.
In Rostock, on the other hand, the naval arsenal of the Bundeswehr has moved into the Warnemünde shipyard. Instead of shipbuilding, the ships of the navy are to be repaired here in the future. From the point of view of IG Metall and the state government, however, more could be gained from the site. Belgian metalworker Smulders is interested in leasing part of the shipyard to build offshore platforms for the wind power industry.
There is talk of 500 jobs directly in production and 500 in the supplier companies. But the Navy is still examining its own use. It is currently uncertain how this will turn out.
Friedrich summarizes: “The light is that we have created prospects everywhere. We have also – I think – achieved a lot together. But the shadow is precisely the issue of employment and future prospects”.
If it doesn’t work out with a job in the north-east, Denmark could be the next port of call. According to IG Metall, the country will need up to 3,000 workers for its “Bornholm Energy Island” project in the next few years.
