MONTREAL — Plans by Bombardier Inc.’s transportation unit to close two railway equipment plants in Germany have been delayed because of opposition from local politicians and trade unions, the National Post reports.
The Montreal-based company said yesterday a meeting of the board that manages the plants, planned for Monday, has been postponed until early February.
Lydia Dufresne, company spokeswoman, said the plants are still slated to be closed, but she added the delay will “give all the interested parties more time to come up with other proposals to see if we can save some jobs there.”
She said the workers have been offered a chance to relocate. Bombardier’s plant in Ammendorf has 850 employees and their Vetschau facility has 110.
The closures are part of a wide-ranging restructuring plan announced by Bombardier Transportation in November. A total of 1,100 jobs were to be cut in Germany and Britain, out of 25,000 employees in Europe.
The restructuring came in the wake of the takeover last May of Adtranz, a major German passenger rail-car manufacturer. Following the acquisition, Bombardier became the world’s largest rail equipment manufacturer.