GERMAN STEEL INDUSTRY SEEKS LAY-OFF FUNDS
The West German government today considered
demands for nearly 850 mln marks to lay off or retrain 20,000
steel workers.
    Government spokesman Friedhelm Ost said Chancellor Helmut
Kohl reviewed a joint proposal by steel employers and trade
unions at a special meeting with steel industry
representatives.
    Companies like Fried Krupp <KRPG.D> and Hoesch Werke AG
<HWKG.F>, which saw profits plunge last year, have taken the
unusual step of aligning with the metalworkers' trade union, IG
Metall, to press for government finance to slim staff levels
still further.
    Government officials said Bonn was prepared to take part in
a common effort to find a solution for the steelworkers. But
since the government was struggling to finance tax cuts by
reducing state subsidies, it could not pay for all the layoffs.
    A spokesman for IG Metall said the joint proposal foresaw
redundancy payments to 10,000 workers in Ruhr and Rhineland
plants. Some 6,000 workers would be redeployed in non-steel
making sectors of steel companies, while a further 4,000 would
be eligible for job-retraining schemes. Redundancies are
estimated at 600 mln marks, while job retraining would cost a
further 240 mln.
 REUTER
