NEGOTIATIONS ON A RECONCILIATION OF INTERESTS HAVE BROKEN DOWN

 Yesterday, it was declared that negotiations on a reconciliation of interests between Francotyp-Postalia GmbH and Francotyp-Postalia Vertrieb und Service GmbH and the Works Council and trade union representatives had failed. In the first quarter of the year, following fruitless internal negotiations, the negotiating parties had reached an agreement on the conciliation proceedings. The third meeting took place yesterday. At the beginning of the year, the company decided to transfer production from Birkenwerder to Wittenberge; this decision was preceded by month-long talks on a realignment of production at the previous site.

According to the Works Council Constitution Act, the purpose of a reconciliation of interests is to reach an amicable agreement between the company and the Works Council on the type and scope of an operational change. Even with the input of an external mediator, the FP management and the Works Council were unable to come to an agreement yesterday.

The company will now start to implement the planned measures and close production in Birkenwerder. In the arbitration proceedings, the negotiating parties will also discuss a redundancy scheme for the estimated 110 employees working in production at Birkenwerder who are likely to be made redundant. “The realignment of production is a measure of key importance in securing the long-term future of the entire Group”, states Hans Szymanski, CEO of Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG. “This will enable us to create the competitive conditions necessary in the long term that, unfortunately, we were unable to implement in Birkenwerder despite our extensive efforts”, Mr Szymanski goes on to say.