No to layoffs at Continental/Contitech IMAS factory!

We have been informed of the layoffs announced a few days ago by the Continental / Contitech IMAS factory management in Volos, Greece.

We have also been informed of the pressure that the management of IMAS is putting upon workers to accept severe salary slashes, decrease the number of work days by 42 a year and much less wages for any new workers that will be employed. All of these to be included in the new three year Collective Agreement between the factory union and Contitech IMAS.

Continental / Contitech are a huge multination company, making big profits, rising each year, as your official statistics show. Workers at Contitech/IMAS produced huge profits for the company in the course of the last 40 years, when IMAS sold to the Public Electricity Company of Greece (DEI) and to the mining industry abroad, mainly in Australia.

Moreover, just recently, Continental fused with Goodyear, strengthening its position in the global market and enhancing its profits even more.

We strongly protest against the recent layoffs and the attacks against the workers at the IMAS factory. These sackings are driving workers into poverty and unemployment in a period that the unemployment rate in Greece is beyond all historical proportions.

We support the strike action that the workers have decided and we will inform our unions and local communities about the cynical policies of Continental / Contitech.

We demand:

• All the layoffs should be rescinded
• A new three year collective agreement, with decent salaries