Ford workers in Saarlouis find themselves on partial unemployment this week. But this does not apply to the representatives of the works council appointed by the unions, because they work out with the management of the group the cuts which are going to be imposed on the workers of Saarlouis.

If Ford workers in Saarlouis and Valencia, Spain, do not oppose works councils and unions and unite independently to defend all jobs, tens of thousands of jobs will be lost, on both Site (s.

European management has asked the Saarlouis and Valencia factories to submit their savings plans by Thursday. The shipyard that will reduce its costs the most will be awarded the contract to build a new electric model. The works councils of the two factories have been negotiating this for months with the respective factory managements and are preparing vast attacks: job cuts, wage cuts, extensions of working hours, reduction of holidays, etc.

In a letter, the management of the Spanish factory demanded from the workers “the reduction of wage costs, the extension of daily working hours and an increase in the number of working days per year”. Otherwise, the factory was threatened with closure. The Spanish works council led by José Luís Parra complained, but assured management: “We do not know any red lines and are ready to negotiate”.

In Germany, the general works council drafts the threatening letters issued by the factory management. “We have already been told quite clearly that Valencia has considerable advantages, especially with regard to personnel costs,” said the acting chairman of Ford’s German general works council, Martin Henning, in a circular. Apparently, labor costs in Spain were a third lower than in Germany.

What this means for workers in Saarlouis is clear. They will have to accept huge cuts. Some of those affected told the WSWS that the factory was talking about cuts of 120 million euros a year. Among other things, the three daily breaks are to be halved from a total of one hour to 30 minutes. The millions that are squeezed out of the workforce in this way can then flow directly to shareholders and hedge funds through their dividend payments.

The planned brutal extortion has been the number one topic of conversation for Ford workers for weeks and months, who fear for their jobs and wages. The works council, under the leadership of the IG Metall union, is exploiting this fear.

Late last year, Markus Thal, chairman of the Saarlouis works council, said he was basing his hopes of “saving the factory” mainly on workers’ willingness to make sacrifices. “They have always supported concessions in the past and are also ready to make concessions now,” said the Suddeutsche Zeitung quote him saying.

Thal hadn’t asked the workers before. “I don’t know if we were asked,” said a Ford worker from Saarlouis in a conversation with the WSWS. “In any case, nobody told me about it. But I would be interested to know what Saarlouis’ offer contained,” he said. But he and his colleagues had heard nothing through the union. The workforce must read everything in the media.

Complaints from trade unions and works councils in Germany and Spain about company actions – Spanish union officials said they were forced into gladiator-like “hunger games” – remind the author crying ” Arrest the thief!” hide his crime. In both countries, they pit the numbers against each other. Their complaints reported by the media are only the background music of the attacks which they themselves help to design and impose on the workers.

Management has been able to rely on the unions for years. Ford has already closed several factories in Europe in the past. A first wave of closures affected factories in Southampton and Dagenham (UK) in 2013 and Genk (Belgium) in 2014. Only five years later, in 2019, factories in Russia, France and again in Britain were closed, and a plant in Slovakia sold.

From now on, Saarlouis and Valence are invited to surpass themselves in the reductions they offer. Germany and Spain are the two main car producing countries in Europe. In Spain, the automotive industry – with factories belonging to VW, Mercedes, Renault, Stellantis (Citroën, Opel, Peugeot) and Ford – is one of the most important sectors of the economy. The situation is even more pronounced in Germany.

Ford has been producing cars in Saarland for more than 50 years. Of the 7,000 workers who once worked at the factory, fewer than 5,000 remain today. But in Saarland alone, around 40,000 jobs in total in the subcontractor industry depend on the plant.

Ford’s Almussafes plant in Valencia has a similar story. It has been around for nearly five decades. Of the 9,000 who worked there, just under 6,000 are still employed and another 30,000 jobs are at stake in the regional supplier industry.

Given the importance of the factories, the Ford Group relies not only on unions and works councils, but on governments to extort money.

According to media reports, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) has considered subsidies for the factory to convert to e-mobility if Valencia wins the competition. The automaker has been receiving millions in subsidies from the regional government of Valencia for years. “We are at Ford’s side,” assures the prime minister of the state of Valencia, Ximo Puig, who, like Sánchez, is a member of the social-democratic PSOE.

Saarland’s Premier Tobias Hans (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) and his Social Democratic Economy Minister Anke Rehlinger also pledged state support, saying the state government was doing “everything possible”. “Strong solidarity” between workers, works council, unions, local management and state government is also understood in Detroit, London and Cologne. the Saarbrücken Zeitung quote Hans as saying. “That certainly impressed Ford of Europe boss Stuart Rowley, who I spoke with.”

In Germany and Spain, state and regional governments are also supporting the construction of battery factories in close proximity to existing factories. In Saarland, the Chinese manufacturer S-Volt has announced that it will build a large battery factory just 20 kilometers from the Ford plant.

Almussafes also announced the construction of a huge battery production plant right next to the Ford plant. Ford would be among the investors. The German Financial Daily Handelsblatt and Spanish every day El País conclude that this greatly increases the Valencia factory’s chances in the bidding war.

Hurry up. The decision to award the contract for a new electric model must be made by June. 30 Before that, the initiative must be taken out of the hands of works councils and trade unions. They are not the solution to the threat to jobs, but part of the problem facing workers in Germany, Spain and around the world. They don’t just accept competition from undercutting, where only the factory with the lowest costs survives. They also design the cuts themselves and apply them.

This union policy leads to an incessant downward spiral. What will the situation be in four or five years? Will the factory that “wins” now have to compete with Ford factories in Romania or Turkey and the low wages paid there?

In a previous article, we wrote: “To resist the blackmail of management and works councils, a new political orientation is needed, which stems from the common interests of all workers everywhere and opposes the logic of the capitalist profit system. . Workers must take up the defense of their interests and rights and organize independently of pro-capitalist unions and their works councils.

Everyone who is serious about defending jobs and working conditions must now put on the emergency brake. Ford workers in Saarlouis, Valencia, Cologne and other plants must form rank-and-file committees independent of the unions, link up with each other and discuss a common strategy against management, governments, unions and committees of business.

The International Committee of the Fourth International and its affiliated Socialist Equality Parties will support you. We have formed the International Workers’ Alliance of Grassroots Committees to coordinate the struggles of workers around the world against corporate attacks. Contact us today!