Unions Walk Out of Talks With ASML Over Eindhoven Job Cuts

ASML union talks reorganization Eindhoven, Digi Mart USA News (Eindhoven, Netherlands): Labor unions walked out angrily from a meeting with the leadership of ASML, the chipmaking machine manufacturer. The unions were discussing a previously announced reorganization that would eliminate about 1,400 jobs.

The company had set a deadline for those changes that was later pushed back, contrary to earlier agreements. ASML said that despite its large profits, it wanted to reform a substantial part of its management layer.

Hundreds of positions in that layer could be affected as a result.

The reorganization was originally scheduled to take effect in November. Employees left without work due to the reform would then be paid until May and could look for a new job.

However, the start of the new organization was postponed to December or even March for several groups of employees.

As a result, workers would be surplus for a shorter period and would therefore have less time to find a new job. The unions CNV, De Unie and VHP2 then demanded that ASML renegotiate that postponement, but the company refused.

The unions confirmed, following reporting by the Eindhovens Dagblad, that the talks had indeed broken down. They consider the changes made by the chipmaker to be too large and maintain that the company must negotiate with them again.

Casper Vaandrager of VHP2 said he did not understand why the company was not honoring the agreements it had made. “I don’t understand that.

The whole company is turned upside down because of the delay,” he told the newspaper. According to the FNV, IT department employees would now have only eight weeks to find a new job because of the delay.

The unions have not yet decided on any further steps.

ASML said it was disappointed that the unions had walked out. The company maintains that shifting the start date of the new organization is not an “drastic and/or unforeseen circumstance” that would require mandatory consultation on the social plan.

According to ASML, the issue concerns about thirty employees.