BASF investing up to Euro10bn at HQ site
29 Nov 2010
Ludwigshafen, Germany – BASF SE is to spend Euro9-10 billion on measures to safeguard the future of its Ludwigshafen production site over the next five years.
Under a new agreement with employee representatives, the chemicals maker is to keep investment at its headquarters site in line with levels of recent years.
The deal, which replaces the 2004-2010 site agreement, also includes a no-redundancy pledge. It applies to approximately 33,000 BASF employees at the site for the period from the beginning of 2011 to end of 2015.
Around two-thirds of the spend will be used on investment, modernisation and maintenance to keep the Ludwigshafen site performing at its best in terms of technology and organisation, said BASF.
R&D spending will also be at the level of previous years and will account for more than one-third of the total amount. Ludwigshafen will remain the central platform for global R&D at BASF, a group statement added.
“The recent economic crisis highlighted the importance of close and trusting cooperation between the works council andmanagement, which enabled us to avoid short-time work at the Ludwigshafen site for a long time and minimise its impact at a later stage,” said Dr. Harald Schwager, industrial relations director of BASF.
“This was possible because both sides were willing to show flexibility on human resources issues. The new site agreement captures this spirit and ensures that the site is equipped to weather future storms,” he added.
“We consciously invested a lot of time in these talks and engaged intensely with management in order to achieve workable models. The negotiations were very tough but the shared background of experience in coping with the crisis had a positive impact on the atmosphere of the negotiations,” said Robert Oswald, chairman of the works council at BASF.
A feature of the site agreement is a joint commitment toward safeguarding employment through training, personnel development and qualification, and the Generations@Work program to address demographic change.
We are committed to vocational training and intend to maintain the existing high level of vocational training at BASF and in the BASF Training Verbund with partner companies, according to Hans-Carsten Hansen, president human resources at BASF.
“Through this commitment we avoid any risk of a shortage of skilled labour and at the same time meet our responsibilities toward the young people in our region,” said Hansen.
Longer working lives are posing new challenges in terms of the working capacity of our employees, noted Rainer Nachtrab, chair of the executive representative committee of BASF.
“The agreed expansion of company health management will offer employees more opportunities to stay healthy and increase their fitness for work throughout the later stages of their working lives,” said Nachtrab.
