Apparently, it’s not just suppliers who are demanding to either be paid by cash-strapped Saab or seize its assets. IF Metall and Unionen, the two biggest worker unions of Saab Automobile, have stated they will most likely request a court order to put the company into bankruptcy, unless their wages are paid within the next two weeks.
Saab is scheduled to pay its workers on Friday, August 26, however the company announced on Tuesday that payments may be delayed since the funds that it had supposedly secured are not yet available.
“We must start the process, as there’s no alternative to our moving to protect our members’ wages” said Veli-Pekka Saikkala, head of salary negotiations at IF Metall.
The process Saikkala referred to, involves the unions, with the support of the government, asking Saab to pay the wages. If that does not happen within a week, the unions then have the right to ask a court to declare Saab bankrupt.
“Saab is doing everything it can to prevent salaries being paid late this time. But there is still a risk this will happen” admitted the Swedish carmaker’s spokesman, Eric Geers. “Paying the salaries is our No. 1 priority. And our second is to restart production.”
Story source: Bloomberg
