"The plant will be taken over by a large manufacturer who is able to foster development instead of sustaining agony, as it might happen with other and less reliable investors. I believe that Bosch Siemens is the best choice there is for the future of the home appliances business in Wroclaw. They know all the tricks of the trade," claims Wroclaw's Mayor Rafał Dutkiewicz.
On Friday, Puls Biznesu wrote that the liquidation saga at Falgor was finally coming to an end. On Monday, we published news about a heated debate in the Creditors Committee, who discussed the future of Fagor Master Cook and the court's decision to sell the plant. It must be remembered that Teresa Kalisz, Fagor Mastercook's official receiver, had been trying to sell Fagor for a year and to no avail, and she was also against selling the plant to BSH during the committee's session on Monday.
The plant is in a tight corner at the moment. Their manufacturing contracts terminate at the end of March. It has been revealed that 800 employees will lose their jobs (the plant employed 1300 people before its bankruptcy). The agreement with BSH stipulates that those workers who are now being laid off will be re-employed as soon as the plant resumes production. BSH are planning to take on 500 workers. Nobody knows when as yet. Off the record, the plant will probably resume production at the end of the next year.
"I have repeated many times that the atmosphere among the personnel is terrible, and this is not going to change easily, but the decision to sell the plant to BSH means that there will be money for the workers to cover their gratuities. Our people find this very important," says Lech Bąk, Chairman of the NSZZ "Solidarność" Workers' Council at Fagor Mastercook.
According to Mr Bąk, BSH is likely to start their lay-off process at the end of January. Workers are guaranteed to receive gratuities in the amount proportional to their seniority. On average, they will receive the equivalent of 9 monthly salaries (ca. 20 thousand PLN).
"If BSH had bought the plant earlier, it might not be necessary to lay off the entire personnel. The investor now needs time to put their production lines in place. All the terms of the lay-off process will be laid out in detail in the agreement with BSH," adds the trade union leader.
"We are going to collaborate with the local job centre to help the redundant workers find new jobs," emphasises Mayor Rafał Dutkiewicz.
Workers and trade union representative discussed the terms of their lay-offs in a meeting on Friday. The meeting was attended by "Solidarność" and "Metalowcy" trade union representatives. Both unions gather over 50% of all the staff at Fagor Mastercook.
BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH is the largest home appliances manufacturer in the whole of Europe and one of the largest brands in the industry globally. In 2013, the company disclosed an annual profit of 10.5 billion EUR. Currently, BSH operates 42 plants in 13 countries in Europe, the Us, Latin America and Asia. According to Puls Biznesu, BSH has invested 500 million EUR in Poland to date. The business manufactures dishwashers, washing machines and tumble dryers in Lodz, where they employ more than 2 thousand people. They also bought Zelmer. The company also runs eight shared services centres which employ 500 people as well as three logistics centres.
