Nokia and Germany’s IG Metall union have reached an agreement about the handset maker’s plan to close its Bochum manufacturing plant in Northwestern Germany. The two parties agreed on a $314 million package for the 2,300 employees that will be affected by the plant’s closure, scheduled for June 30.
Nokia has received flack over its plans to close the plant and move manufacturing to Romania. The state-owned bank in the German region had demanded Nokia repay as much as $92 million in subsidies which it received for setting up operations in the area.
In a statement about the agreement, Veli Sundbäck, executive vice president of Nokia and chairman of the Supervisory Board of Nokia GmbH, said: “Nokia has agreed on a fair and responsible social plan. We are well-aware that closing the site is painful for all affected employees and their families. As we have clear responsibilities to our employees in this kind of difficult situation, it was our special concern from the start to compensate the loss of the jobs in a respectful and fair manner.”
The Bochum works council stated its satisfaction with the agreement. “We achieved our goal, which was to reach a satisfactory agreement for our members that is in line with the best German agreements,” said Gisela Achenbach, head of the Bochum works council, in a statement.
