structural development

 

"In the structural development process, the district of Görlitz relies heavily on innovation, innovative processes, new technologies and creative experts. I therefore expressly welcome the initiative to find new areas of activity in order to secure jobs at the Görlitz site together with Alstom.

It is important that our local expertise and tradition in rail vehicle construction - the core competence of the specialists and the traditional company in the region - are preserved. This must be the goal of everyone involved.  

Local rail passenger transport remains a promising future market. Therefore, there is a great opportunity for all locations in Lusatia and their dedicated employees to continue working in this future market. I expressly support the "Site Preservation" initiative. As far as possible, we will also position ourselves towards the Saxon State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labor and Transport and rely on the support of the Free State." Thomas Rublack, head of department in the Görlitz district

 

Hello!

Today we report on an initiative that has never existed in Görlitz before. We speak to the innovation manager Christoph Scholze  about his commitment to " Location Preservation ". If you have any questions or suggestions, write This email address is being protected from spam bots! To display JavaScript must be turned on. or contact us directly via the website “Slocation received” - the initiative is happy about every and anyone interested/n and about every participant!

The shock came just before Christmas: Alstom announced that 400 of the 900 jobs in Görlitz were to be cut. But these plans were made without Carsten Liebig , the former works manager and committed citizen.
Alstom employees turned to him with their concerns - Carsten Liebig began to act.

Together with the former Siemens innovation manager Christoph Scholze, who now heads the Görlitz branch of Grantiro Think & Do Tanks on Steinstraße, he founded the "social
impact " " Location Preservation " . In German: an initiative that wants to have a positive effect on a social challenge - and invites everyone to think along . Because: the loss of 400 jobs would not only directly affect 400 employees and their families, but the entire region. Not only economic power, but also and above all specialist knowledge and specialists, some of whom have been specializing in "rail" for decades, would be lost - at a time when Lusatia is facing major structural developments and, in line with the EU and federal German sustainability strategy, completely on the long-term expansion of "rail".

The aim of “ Preserving the Location ” is to develop alternative strategies in a community that not only secure jobs, but also the location in the long term - through preservation and expansion. It is supported, among others, by Mayor Octavian Ursu and Head of Department Thomas Rublack (quote above). After all, local rail passenger transport is considered a promising future market - so why lose these perspectives now?

 

Christoph, how did the initial idea for the initiative come about? Did you want to get the region's go-getters on board straight away, when did you plan to create the website, how was your first meeting?   

Carsten Liebig asked what could be done. approached by many Alstom employees and then contacted me. We then sat down and thought about it. I was able to contribute my experience from the labor dispute over the Siemens location. Combined with our Grantiro approach, this ultimately led to this initiative.

Did you first have to sit down and discuss, or did everything happen at lightning speed, virtually?  

Yes, it was lightning fast despite all the effort.
The website was up in less than 48 hours. With the first supporter, Octavian Ursu , it was a phone call and he immediately agreed.

Do you have a roadmap for preserving jobs or for the innovation process? 

Now it's a matter of gathering the willing. The employees, but also the people in the region, should now first be given an offer of how they can get involved. This requires registration with the contact details , what the current status is and how it can continue. It is important to always compare how the current situation is. This affects both the political perspective and that of the company and unions. is clear: We don't work against anyone, we develop concepts and give everyone a hand in order to find a good solution for the location and thus for our city together.

How is the initiative received at Alstom? After children had already painted pictures for the preservation of jobs and sent them to France, personalities and politicians are now behind "Preservation of the site". Any initial reactions?

There is no contact with Alstom yet and that would be too early . At the moment we are simply emphasizing that this is not an anti- Alstom initiative, but that we are developing the basis for a joint solution. Personally, I am impressed by activities such as painting pictures - and what I hope will come next. I also know how important these emotional actions are. We also created very nice emotional moments at Siemens at the time and linked them to the fight for the plant. This is an essential part of the strategy. But…

 Emotions don't save jobs and don't create innovation... 

  ...Yes, exactly, it is not enough on its own and concrete perspectives must also be presented. That helped Siemens back then and it won't be to our detriment this time either. Just imagine: when at the end of the day it is written in this blog and in the newspaper that the workforce and the municipal society have developed new concepts - and then one of them is actually implemented - only in part, I think. We would appear a bit like the Gallic village in Asterix and Obelix and set a great sign with the magic potion of networking, community and swarm intelligence. Far beyond the city limits and as an important signal in structural change.  

How long do you think this will take?  

You can't really answer that seriously. Sometimes something like this happens very quickly, but it can also take forever. Too many parties with different interests are involved for that. But just with a good solution proposal from a “neutral” party like us, we could give the whole thing a boost. For our part, we believe that we will have the first valid ideas on the table by the end of March.

 

We 'll keep you up to date !

 

Best regards 

 

your

 

Yasna 

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