Manufacturing workers need our support

Today the EPP Group Chairman Manfred Weber, EPP Group Vice Chairman Antonio Tajani and employment coordinator David Casa MEP met trade union representatives of the Caterpillar manufacturing site in Belgium. Tomorrow the European Parliament will vote on a resolution on this very subject.

The Head of the PN Delegation MEP David Casa said; 

“In today’s world the manufacturing industry in Malta and across Europe needs our support more than ever before. Equally important is to support the livelihood of their workers. I convened this meeting today so that we understand better what workers and companies need to face-off harsh competition from other non-EU countries like China and others where wages are much lower. I would like to thank Manfred Weber and Antonio Tajani for participating in this very important meeting. I also want to heartily thank the Belgian MEP Claude Rolin for facilitating this meeting.”

In early September, Caterpillar announced the closure of its Belgian manufacturing site (Gosselies), resulting in the layoff of over 2000 workers and the threat of the loss of another 4000 jobs in the region. Caterpillar will also close down its Monkstown plant in Northern Ireland (Newtonabbey) which could lead to the loss of 250 jobs. On September 5, train manufacturer Alstom announced it will be closing down its Belfort site in France by 2018, which will result in 400 workers being laid off.

The EPP Group negotiator of Parliament’s Resolution, Claude Rolin MEP, stressed that Europe has a social market economy which means that large companies have a moral and social responsibility to their employees: “Today’s call is very timely as Europe is being hit by a wave of major layoffs in some of its most established manufacturing plants. It is to be expected that multinational companies aim for cost efficiency, but this does not give them a free pass to act single-handedly. They have obligations towards their employees and the regions they are established in”, said the Belgian MEP.