Large numbers of jobs are under threat at Agfa in Mortsel (Antwerp Province), where the Belgo-German multinational corporation develops, manufactures, and distributes analogue and digital imaging products, software, and systems.
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530 jobs threatened at imaging products manufacturer Agfa in Mortsel
Colin Clapson
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The company announced the job losses at a special works council this morning. Demand for classic film has been falling for years and, though Agfa has diversified, the trend is still having an impact on operations. The jobs set to disappear are in the conventional film production division. Both the unions and the company management say that they want to avoid as many redundancies as possible. In recent years, hundreds of jobs have already disappeared at the imaging company in Mortsel.
"There has been less work for months. Staff have already regularly been forced to sign on temporarily," says Marc Pierssens of socialist union ABVV. "But we hadn’t anticipated such a high number."
Agfa spokesperson Viviane Dictus provides background to the company's decision: "We have to adjust expenditure to the reality of the market. Demand has fallen sharply in recent years. And the largest part of that production is in Mortsel."
A quarter of Mortsel jobs threatened
1,900 people still work at Agfa in Mortsel: 550 at the group's headquarters and 1,350 in film production.
"370 blue-collar and 160 white-collar workers and managers will be sacked," says Pierssens. "That is 42 percent of blue-collar workers and 33 percent of white-collar workers in this division. We will do everything we can to avoid redundancies and if that is not possible, people will be handsomely compensated." "We won’t accept any further restrictions on salaries. I think we can speak of a 'culture of greed' at the top of the company and of mismanagement."
New factory in Mortsel
The Agfa management too says it wants to avoid as many redundancies as possible. "We are going to rely on natural outflow of staff, but we are also looking at re-employment," says Dictus. "Agfa has its headquarters in Mortsel and other activities are also located here. We are going to look into matters calmly."
Meanwhile, Agfa is also building a new factory in Mortsel. "That is intended for our green hydrogen membrane used in hydrogen recovery. More and more people will find work here. It is an important growth engine for our group."