Nokia boycott urged by German unions

So apparently, that whole "plan to shut down a Bochum Nokia plant" didn't exactly sail over everyone's heads, particularly not in Germany. Reports are now flowing out that unions in the nation are taking it upon themselves to urge consumers not to purchase wares from the firm, with Dietmar Muscheid, regional head of the Confederation of German Unions (DGB), being one of the most vocal. Muscheid went on to state that "whoever buys a cellphone today should think about the choice they are making and what catastrophic consequences the company's actions in Bochum will have for thousands of workers." 'Course, the EU has already proclaimed that Nokia won't be getting a dime in relocation (to Romania, supposedly) aid, but unspecified government officials are reportedly lined up to speak with suits from the handset maker later this week to "discuss the plant's future." Whether or not all this commotion will actually change any minds, however, remains to be seen.

[Bad Beaver @ Jan 17th 2008 1:40PM]

Well. Let's say raking in subsidies from the state (about €90 million) and then closing down a profitable plant is not exactly getting Nokia on peoples' "nice" list over here.

[Pdexter @ Jan 17th 2008 2:06PM]

Connecting People after all ;D

[Andrew @ Jan 17th 2008 3:40PM]

Doesn't matter if they received subsidies or not. They were probably looking at the spreadsheets telling them that no matter what they would not be making any profits in the long term and that at some point in the near future even the subsidies would not make a difference. Nokia doesn't do things on a whim, this was probably the result of a long, long process of really important decisions.

[Fredster @ Jan 17th 2008 5:01PM]

All i can say is WHATEVER! Then they should boycott Adidas, Puma, all the car manufacturers, the whole clothing industry, all electronic manufacturers, most of the food industry etc etc....What leaves the germans not to boycott? Probably Bratwurst and beer. Have fun! You asked for it, you can have it!

[Fredster @ Jan 17th 2008 5:01PM]

All i can say is WHATEVER! Then they should boycott Adidas, Puma, all the car manufacturers, the whole clothing industry, all electronic manufacturers, most of the food industry etc etc....What leaves the germans not to boycott? Probably Bratwurst and beer. Have fun! You asked for it, you can have it!

[ralphg @ Jan 17th 2008 1:42PM]

This was the last remaining cell phone plant in Germany.

German labour costs are 10x more than in Romania.

Countries like Hungary provide 50% relocation assistance to high tech companies.

EU no longer provides relocation assistance, after it helped AEC move from Germany to Poland.

The EU gives up to e50 million in subsidies to corporations.

The agreement between Nokia and the EU had ended, so Nokia has no need to repay the e88 million is government subsidies.

It is foolish of the EU to subsidize corporations.

[L @ Jan 17th 2008 1:47PM]

When subsidies are all that holds a company in one place, something like this bound to happen sooner or later.

I pity the workers, but a boycott is not saving anything I'd say...

[bobobob2 @ Jan 17th 2008 2:32PM]

Yeah, but when you know that all that's holding you there are subsidies, you shouldn't take them. One of the politicians once compared companies like that to grasshoppers, and that's pretty much what they are - they come, take money from the government and then move on.

I never liked Nokia anyways, Sony Ericsson ftw…

[indeego @ Jan 18th 2008 9:26AM]

Well, this is nice and all that talk about feierabend is indeed rediciolous. But:
They can be proud of universal healthcare, that's something I'd like to have,too..

[Superprime @ Jan 17th 2008 1:48PM]

I read in the paper that the Romanian prime minister is also pretty upset to what Nokia is doing to Germany so he decided that the romanian goverment will offer no assistance.(including not building roads to the new factory it seems)

[Taylor @ Jan 17th 2008 1:52PM]

Man I hate Unions.

[ssuk @ Jan 17th 2008 3:14PM]

You wouldn't happen to be John Lewis would you?

[SteveMB @ Jan 17th 2008 5:03PM]

I hate Unions as well. You can't fire a lazy worker, they get paid ridiculous wages, and that drives the cost of the product up.

[Taylor @ Jan 17th 2008 5:14PM]

Dude, check my user name.

PS. Do you have any idea who John Lewis is??? He practically made them what they are today.

[Pdexter @ Jan 17th 2008 1:59PM]

Heh well this didnt come as a suprise France=German with these kind of things. They got all right to be angry after all that factory was pushing big moneys to Nokia, but seems they are pretty much done in Europe and now just looking more cost effective ways to make more of those Euros. Will be just matter of time before Nokia leaves Finlands Salo factories ;)

[Pdexter @ Jan 17th 2008 2:03PM]

Oh and just to add that like L said i hardly think that boycott is doing anything if other than those old workers even remember it after 2 months....

[hippie @ Jan 17th 2008 2:03PM]

Surely buying a samsung or LG phone is so much better for german economy..

[Andrew @ Jan 17th 2008 3:39PM]

Infineon of Germany is one the worlds largest producers of chipsets for all kinds of applications. It's highly likely that Nokia sources from them rather than Hynix. So in fact it probably is better to buy a Nokia than a Samsung for the German economy.

[Sh.H @ Jan 17th 2008 9:11PM]

well, GSM phones have their chipset makers pretty fixed to a few companies.. I'm sure that samsung or LG sources theirs from Infineon, NXP... but no Hynix

[Zack Johnston @ Jan 17th 2008 2:44PM]

Just proves once again that govt. bureaucrats are stupider than private business people.

Nokia obviously waited until Romania became part of the EU to make the move.
Remember, the EU politicians want Europeans to believe that the EU is just one big country...would the equivalent of Nokia moving their factory from Michigan to Kentucky hurt the U.S.? (Maybe the workers in Michigan, but not the overall U.S. economy.)
That´s how Nokia played the politicians and the EU game...."But we are still keeping the factory in the EU (and helping a poor EU member get its economy going)!"
EU politicians are suckers again...and the EU taxpayers and workers pay for their follies.

[Sphynx @ Jan 17th 2008 2:53PM]

Yeah lets buy a Siemens-Benq phone instead!
...
Ah no.. wait... there was something...

[Paco @ Jan 17th 2008 3:24PM]

Ridiculous. "Profitable" means almost nothing. It is about cost structures and Bochum is a very expensive plant to run. If it is about profitability, then surely you cannot argue going to a less costly plant to make even MORE profit, right? Serious quality problems out of that factory didn't help their cause either. What is the thinking here? That now every time a company opens up a facility somewhere they have to stay forever, regardless of how well the local unit performs? That some government money is a blood oath? Great idea! Then when the local labor force gets complacent with their jobs for life and starts turning out crap, the whole bloody company will go out of business propping up an ambivalent labor force and you will not only lose your job but all your sweet benefits. Oops. I wish MY Nokia job was as guaranteed as the Germans and Finns. But when it is time for the big cuts, the USA is always first to get hit because the labor laws here make us easy targets. (Just like EADS is boning the Brits!) C'est la vie. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

[Andrew @ Jan 17th 2008 3:44PM]

The EADS is boning the Brits? Not like they are boning the three (3) German factories they're selling off?

[Constable Odo @ Jan 17th 2008 3:27PM]

Since when are companies not allowed to close factories? Otherwise Motor City wouldn't be a ghost town. The U.S. automotive industry has already gone down the tubes from companies shutting down factories contantly. I'd always heard it was the unions that did them in. The unions asking for high wages and great benefits and then it's shutdown and take a hike time.

If these people want to boycott Nokia and people stop purchasing their phones, then Nokia will need to manufacture fewer phones and then another factory will close down. Not very smart.

[Zack Johnston @ Jan 17th 2008 4:21PM]

The complaint is just as much against the subsidies the EU paid to help build the factory (90,000,000 Euro/ $131 million)for Nokia.
Now Germany has another empty, nearly brand new factory, built with taxpayer money.
There are more examples in Germany, this is not the first. (Think Airbus.)
One would think the EU would be a tad bit smarter in their business deals, but corruption and stupidity is not unheard of in the dark halls of governments over here.

[shanoboy @ Jan 17th 2008 4:36PM]

It must suck running a biz in the EU. So many regulations and laws. I wonder how most of them stay profitable.

[tekdroid @ Jan 17th 2008 6:31PM]

please boycott Nokia in favour of companies with other plants already outside of Germany :)

Makes perfect sense.

[Alex @ Jan 17th 2008 9:17PM]

let me just say that living in germany the past 6 years has really opened my eyes to how wonderful our (u.s.) free market economy is. Here, people are lazy as hell, have a sense of entitlement the likes of which I've never seen, can call in sick for weeks on end but never ever get fired unless they punch their boss in the face (and even then its not a sure thing), they whine and whine about all these company plant closings, and evil foreign corporations, they work 36 hours a week (don't get me started on the govt agencies, of which some are only open Monday and Thursday from 9 to 12, what type of shit is that ??), verdi (the unions union) runs everything, and all you hear about is feierabend (quittin time). Then its all under the guise of socialism "hey we have universal healthcare, we give parents money every month for their kids blah blah" except taxes are ridiculous (19 % sales tax is just the start) and everything costs more anyway. Thanks for the healthcare, but with the difference im spending on taxes amd gas compared to back home I could have seen a doctor on fucking mars and still had something left over! These germs need to realize that progress and hard work waits for no man and they can't rely on the anything to stay the way it was. /rant

[CRAZYCRAZY @ Jan 18th 2008 11:32PM]

why did you move over then? haha! and you can't compare everything to your economy. didn't i hear something about the crashing us economy just because banks are throwing their cash out of the window? most people from the us are soo in love with themselves. sure it's good to be confident and proud but this is way too much. i was in australia and great britain,... and lot's people thought so too. interesting.
don't you to attack all americans coz no people in the world is better thn another.

[cripkd @ Jan 18th 2008 6:09AM]

Well, I'm from romania.
Yes, they are to relocate here. The prime-minister can't be upset, i'm sure he just said something to the equivalent of "concerned" at most, because diplomacy doesn't let you jump on one foot with joy that nokia is coming to your country.
As for roads, from what i heard nokia will build parts of an highway equivalent themselves, so...
I don't see why germans are upset, surely when nokia relocated TO germany they were glad but did they expect it to be forever?

[jamyskis @ Jan 19th 2008 6:13AM]

Anyone who thinks that Nokia is going to drop the price of their mobiles just because their labour costs will sink now is living in a dream world. Romania is on the up and up, and both prices and labour costs are rising there - hence the term grasshopper. Companies like Nokia exist solely to make a quick buck and don't give a damn about their social responsibility.

I'm not naive - I don't claim that any of the mobile manufacturers are total angels, but this is greedy, manipulative and inconsiderate behaviour on the part of Nokia, especially as the factory was making a profit (Nokia's spokespeople and their financial records are saying two different things).

I, for one, will not be buying a Nokia mobile when my contract is due for renewal this year.

[Petegogo @ Jan 25th 2008 5:20PM]

I understand the feelings related to the closure of the Bochum plant. But the logic of the Nokia-boycott is a bit strange. Why don't the Germans boycott those cell phone makers who left Germany earlier? Or those who never had a plant in Germany. Instead, politicians are now recommending these companies.
Nokia was the last one to leave. And now it is punished for that durability. Sorry Germans, but I don't understand this.