‘Different future scenarios for VDL Nedcar’

After weeks full of strikes and unrest at VDL Nedcar in Born, the biggest blow came on Thursday: as of 1 November, around 1,800 of the 3,950 employees no longer have to show up. From the province there is of course a word of sympathy for the people who lose their jobs, but there is also cautious optimism: “We sympathize with the employees of VDL Nedcar and the uncertainty that the message from the management to the works council of Nedcar at can summon them,” says Limburg deputy Stephan Satijn (VVD). “As a province, we are regularly updated by the management of VDL Nedcar and we know that they have been working for some time on various future scenarios for the period after the end of the BMW contract. We continue to follow developments closely and trust that the VDL Nedcar management makes every effort for future employment in Born.”

For the municipality of Sittard-Geleen, to which Born belongs, the mass redundancies at Nedcar announced on Thursday were not unexpected. “It was to be expected that VDL Nedcar would announce that there would be a request for dismissal for employees. We have therefore regularly spoken with VDL Nedcar recently and we know that VDL is busy with plans for the future of the factory.” the municipality said in a statement. The municipality states that solutions are already being worked on for those who lose their jobs: “In the meantime, we are already talking to various parties about the future of the employees who will soon be given notice of dismissal, such as the UWV, the province, educational institutions , other municipalities in South Limburg and of course also VDL Nedcar itself.” All the authorities involved will soon strive to guide people from job to job. How exactly, remains to be seen. The municipality: “Is further training or retraining necessary, for example? That partly depends on the competences of the people who will no longer have a job. Together with VDL Nedcar, the parties mentioned will map this out in the near future.”