Nokia Settles With German Workers; Each To Receive $129,090 In Severance
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has agreed to pay workers 200 million euros ($315 million)—130 million euros ($205 million) more than it originally offered—in compensation for the closure of its factory in Bochum, Germany. The 2,300 staff will split 185 million euros ($292 million), with each worker receiving an average of 80,000 euros ($129,090) in severance pay, the FT reports. The remaining 15 million euros ($24 million) will be spent on a transfer company to help the workers find new jobs. The Bochum closure, announced in January, prompted a wave of criticism in Germany from both trade unions and politicians. Finance minister Peer Steinbrück called Nokia’s decision to abandon the Bochum plant for Romania—where wages are a tenth of Germany’s—“caravan capitalism.” The handset maker is still hammering out an agreement with the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Bochum is located, which is demanding that Nokia give back the 60 million euros ($95 million) in investment subsidies that the state granted it to open the plant.
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