Anti-Nokia sentiment unites Ruhr region in massive protest

March said to be second largest demonstration in area

print this

Up to 15,000 people took part in a demonstration against Nokia in the German city of Bochum on Tuesday.
     The recent announcement by the Finnish electronics company that it would close its mobile telephone assembly plant in the city, potentially eliminating 2,300 jobs, united residents of the Ruhr region in a manner that many local people saw as historic.
     "Only once, 20 years ago, do I remember a stronger reaction, when the Reinhausen factory was closed in Duisburg", says steel worker and labour union activist Harald Strehlau.
     Strehlau, like most other demonstrators interviewed by Helsingin Sanomat, had two key complaints: the factory is being closed down by a company making healthy profits, and that the announcement of the decision came in a ham-fisted manner by German standards.
     
If a German company cuts jobs, shop stewards are informed well in advance, says Strehlau.
     "Perhaps the way they give out information reveals something about the Finnish character", he ponders.
     The wave of sympathy for the Nokia employees in Bochum made an impression even on an experienced trade union figure like Strehlau. People arrived in Bochum by bus and train from all over the Ruhr region.
     However, there was also a recognition that there was little that a union could do if a company decides to shut down a factory.
     
Whereas unions previously were able to extract concessions from corporations by threatening to shut down production, the focus now appears to be on the threat of public relations damage to companies that cut back on their work forces. In the case of the dispute with Nokia, German unions and politicians appear to have succeeded.
     Nokia was depicted in a number of symbolic ways at Bochum's Riemke Square, including a coffin, a waste container, and a locust. There was also talk of blood-sucking vampires - after all, Nokia plans to move production from Bochum to Romania's Transylvania region - the legendary home of Dracula.
     The demonstration had a significant effect on everyday life in Bochum and nearby areas in many ways. Production at the Opel car assembly plant shut down on Tuesday, as workers at the factory came out to support the Nokia workers, returning a favour that came from the Nokia employees in connection with a labour dispute at Opel a few years ago.
     
Many other factories were operating at less than full output. "We agreed with the employer that some of us would be allowed to go to the demonstration", said Michael Höfling of a company called PD Group.
     Public transport underwent an upheaval as the city administration allocated local and regional transport facilities for the use of the demonstrators. There were direct buses from Bochum's main railway station to the gathering place of the demonstration.
     This caused problems for some families, as the special arrangements disrupted school transport.
     
Nokia's move was also discussed at a high level.
     On Monday, Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo spoke by telephone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the repercussions of the closure of the plant.
     There were reports that Germany's Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück was to have addressed the rally in Bochum. However, the upheavals on the world's stock markets kept Steinbrück busy with other matters.
     The peaceful demonstration was over in two hours.
     
In addition to the German labour union movement, the announced closure of the Nokia factory in Bochum has sparked reactions from unions around Europe.
     The European Metalworkers' Federation (EMF) has called a meeting in Brussels for late January over the Nokia issue.
     Finnish labour unions and Nokia shop stewards in Finland have sent messages of solidarity to Bochum. Meanwhile, a boycott of Nokia products began in Germany soon after last week's announcement.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Nokia top management meet with Bochum employees (22.1.2008)
  Nokia shutting down plant in Germany, moving manufacture to Romania (16.1.2008)
  Anger at Nokia swells in Germany; top politicians join fray over plant closure (21.1.2008)
  Anti-Nokia opinions gathering momentum in Germany (18.1.2008)
  German politicians angered by Nokia factory closure (17.1.2008)

Helsingin Sanomat