Several thousand thyssenkrupp steelworkers demonstrated on Tuesday at the Duisburg headquarters of thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, during a meeting of the division’s supervisory board. They were called to action by the trade union IG Metall, which is demanding more clarity on the future of the group and its steel activities.
Among other things, the union finds that the company’s steel division has been “… starved” and has a need for higher levels of investment than have been pledged so far. “According to our calculation, we need €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) to bring tk Steel up to date technologically, to keep up with the market,” Kallanish learns from IG Metall.
“This is only a warm-up,” shop chairman Tekin Nasikkol told the crowd of demonstrators, and announced that an upcoming clash with the steelmaker’s management could be “… the mother of all confrontations.” According to the union, some 6,000 steelworkers appeared at the gathering.
No results from the board meeting were released by the company before publication deadline. A report by Reuters however suggested that the company has plans to invest €570 million in its steel operations, much less than that indicated by the trade union.
