Almost nine months after the insolvency of the MV Werften Group at the beginning of January, many former employees are still hoping for a future at the locations. According to the current status, the transfer company will expire at the end of October. The deadline puts the remaining under pressure to act.
Schwerin (dpa/mv) – The former employees of the MV shipyards want certainty about their professional future. The impatience among the 900 employees in the transfer company is growing, said IG Metall spokesman Heiko Messerschmidt. Rental and lease agreements at the locations would have to become employment contracts.
The new owners of the shipyard locations in Wismar, Rostock and Stralsund have until the end of October. Then the transfer company expires according to the current status. If nothing changes in the situation, Messerschmidt says it sees a great risk that skilled workers will be on the streets at the end of October or leave the region. On Wednesday, the trade union wants to campaign in Schwerin for an extension of the transitional construct, because this will not be possible without the support of the state.
Economics Minister Reinhard Meyer has so far been cautious about an extension: It was always clear “that the transfer company will not be a permanent solution. A further extension always needs a good and concrete justification.”
The insolvency administrator of the MV shipyards, Christoph Morgen, is meanwhile trying to continue building the cruise ship “Global One” in Wismar. This could save many jobs in the medium term. Regarding an extension of the transfer company, he said: “The prerequisite for a finished building is that the know-how of the employees is available at the shipyard. All measures that help with this are effective.”
85 engineers are currently still working under Morgen’s leadership on behalf of the new owner of the shipyard in Wismar, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). An offer to be taken over by TKMS had already been made to them. According to its own information, the medical technician Eppendorf has also taken on 30 other employees in Wismar and is retraining them.
According to the union, the situation in Stralsund is particularly tense. According to Guido Fröschke, Managing Director of IG Metall Stralsund-Neubrandenburg, the Norwegian shipbuilder Fosen Yard, as the largest tenant to date on the former shipyard site, has announced that around 80 skilled workers could be employed in January at the earliest. So far no contracts have been signed. According to Fröschke, the former MV employees are also outraged that the city of Stralsund, as the new owner of the site, is selling the remaining equipment as quickly as possible. The IG Metall managing director spoke of a lack of foresight in the town hall.
Stralsund feels misunderstood here. “Basically, all the equipment that the halls are equipped with is offered to the potential tenants,” said a spokesman. From the point of view of the property owner, measures such as the abolition of the works fire brigade are also necessary in order to reduce the ancillary site costs for the tenants and thus support the development of the company.