German industrial trade union IG Metall has cancelled its collective bargaining deal with French train manufacturer Alstom over concern about the future of the company's production plants in eastern Germany.
The trade union has accused the train manufacturer of failing to live up to promises to continue investing in its operations in Germany. The deal was supposed to run until 2026.
Alstrom implemented the collective bargaining deal "inadequately from the outset," alleged René Straube, chairman of the general works council at the company.
Workers had agreed to waive vacation pay at the plants in order to secure jobs, among other concessions. But the union now contends that Alstom failed to keep its end of the bargain by investing in the German plants, including in the eastern city of Görlitz.
"As a result, IG Metall was forced to terminate the collective agreement and is now demanding the money withheld from employees back."
Straube said the works council and the union want to make the Alstom plants more productive, competitive and robust into the future with a "better-instead-of-cheaper strategy."
Alstom said the company is planning a strategic realignment in Germany and intends to focus on services and digitalization as well as the interior fittings of trains in the future.
The Görlitz plant, however, manufacturers train car body shells, a business area that the company said is currently in decline.
"However, this is not the time to draw immediate conclusions for the Görlitz site from this development," the company told dpa.
Production of double-decker coaches for Israel and various tram projects are currently under way at the plant, Alstom said.
The company continues to stand by the promises it made in the collective agreement and is examining the legality of the union's decision to terminate the collective bargaining deal, Alstom added.