ESSEN (dpa-AFX) - North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister of Labor Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU) has appealed to the management of Thyssenkrupp to work together with the employees in the planned restructuring of the steel division. The path to green steel must be developed in partnership, said Laumann on Thursday at a rally organized by IG Metall in front of the Thyssenkrupp headquarters in Essen. "And if you want to develop something in partnership, then you are well advised to start by writing a few sentences on a piece of paper that apply. And of course the first thing that has to be there is No redundancies for operational reasons." It should also state that collective agreements must be observed. There must also be a plan "on how to remain a steel location and with what measures, and how it can be implemented and financed".

No compulsory redundancies means "that the workforce can also follow a path of change without fear", said Laumann. "Because you can't shape the future with fear, you can't decide anything good for the future with fear."

The reason for the protest rally directly in front of the Group headquarters was a meeting of the Supervisory Board of the Group holding company on the same day. Among other things, employee representatives accused the Management Board headed by Chairman Miguel López of not involving them sufficiently and at an early stage in important decisions. Specifically, this concerns a 20 percent investment in the steel division by the EPCG holding company of Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky and a reduction in steel production capacities in Duisburg, which is to be linked to job cuts. No details have yet been released.

Of course, the social partnership is not always a fair-weather event, said Laumann. "But when you are in a difficult phase, transparency is the prerequisite for trust. Without transparency, trust can never develop."

In North Rhine-Westphalia, social partnership is part of the raison d'être of the state. "We don't want problems to be solved through class warfare, but through social partnership." Politicians and trade unions pay close attention to this. The employers' associations also wanted this social partnership. "And that is why the employers' side in this group should also adhere to the fact that this is the prerequisite for a successful plan for the future."/tob/DP/nas