\n ERFURT (dpa-AFX) – Thuringia’s former Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left Party) considers the closure of Zalando’s Erfurt logistics center, which employs approximately 2,700 people, to be economically unjustifiable. ‘It is an irresponsible way to manage one’s own operating capital,’ Ramelow told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur in Erfurt. According to his data, the board of the online fashion retailer has earmarked 80 million euros in closure costs for the Thuringian site.<\/p>\n
Citing expert estimates, Ramelow argues that the large-scale logistics hub could be modernized to the latest standards with an investment of around 120 million euros. ‘The difference is far too small to justify discarding the site,’ said Ramelow, who has served as Vice President of the Bundestag since last year. Furthermore, he noted that supporting measures such as short-time work benefits could be made available.<\/p>\n
Works Council seeks meeting with Zalando Board<\/p>\n
The works council of the Zalando logistics center plans to travel to Berlin this Monday with staff and union representatives to present hundreds of postcards to the DAX-listed company’s board and initiate a dialogue. Employees and their families have used these cards to record their concerns, demands, and thoughts regarding the site’s future.<\/p>\n
The postcards represent ‘the collective voices of the people who have sustained this site for years. We expect the board to hear these voices and face its social responsibility,’ the works council stated. The workforce is demanding a clear long-term perspective, according to the employee representatives. Thuringia’s Prime Minister Mario Voigt (CDU) had previously called on the Zalando board during a May 1st rally to ‘use this as an opportunity for dialogue,’ adding that parties should not work against each other.<\/p>\n
Talks planned at the Bundestag<\/p>\n
The delegation has been invited to the Bundestag on Monday afternoon by Ramelow, the works council reported. Employee representatives intend to meet with lawmakers to clarify their positions in the ongoing dispute over the Erfurt jobs.<\/p>\n
Zalando intends to close the logistics center, which played a pivotal role in the online retailer’s growth, in September. This move would result in all employees in Erfurt losing their jobs. The conflict has been simmering since the beginning of the year; since then, two staff meetings have been held – the most recent without management presence – alongside a demonstration by workers and supporters in Erfurt. Additionally, legal proceedings are underway at the labor court regarding the establishment of a conciliation committee.\/rot\/DP\/zb<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ERFURT (dpa-AFX) – Thuringia’s former Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left Party) considers the closure of Zalando’s Erfurt logistics…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9955,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[18,548],"class_list":{"0":"post-9954","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-berlin","8":"tag-berlin","9":"tag-markets"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}