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Closure of Nokia factory in Germany sparks anger

The announced shutdown of a German factory by Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia, following the departure of Motorola and BenQ (明基), has left unions and politicians outraged.

An "abysmal scandal" for the IG Metall trade union, Nokia was slammed as a "locust" on Wednesday by the regional premier of North-Rhine Westphalia, where the Nokia plant is located in the western city of Bochum.

The German government expressed understanding for "workers' disappointment and anger" as the shock of the news rippled across the country.

"Due to market changes and increasing requirements for cost-effectiveness, production of mobile devices in Germany is no longer feasible for Nokia," executive vice president Veli Sundback had said on Tuesday.

Nokia was not the first to reach that conclusion, but it might be the last.

US manufacturer Motorola said last year that its mobile phone plant in Flensburg, near the Danish border and once one of the most modern in Europe, would be dismantled.

Siemens, the only Germany manufacturer, sold its mobile unit to BenQ of Taiwan in 2005.

A year later, BenQ Mobile filed for bankruptcy, condemning its two German factories.

Faced with high labor costs in Germany, Nokia is moving to Romania.

The decision means 2,300 posts will be eliminated in Bochum, to which IG Metall adds 1,000 part-time workers.

On top of that, the regional daily Rheinische Post said another 1,000 jobs were threatened at companies that did sub-contracting work for Nokia.

DHL, the logistics group, has already said it might be forced to lay off workers.

Some 200 are involved in tasks centered on Nokia shipments, in particular those of finished mobile handsets.

The Finnish company said it would try to help workers affected by the closure, but that hasn't carried much weight with German politicians.

North-Rhine Westphalia regional premier Juergen Ruettgers called Nokia a "locust which got money in Germany and then said without warning `we are going to Romania' to maybe get more public funds there."

He was to speak with Nokia workers later on Wednesday.

The western German state provided Nokia with 60 million euros (US$90 million) in aid, to which the federal government added US$20 million, Ruettgers said.

German Deputy Economy Minister Hartmut Schauerte added: "We are going to check with the European Commission if the relocation of this site is being supported financially by European structural funds.That must not be the case."

It appeared however that that might be the only way to seriously contest Nokia's decision.

IG Metall has warned of unspecified "resistance," while Schauerte said Berlin was prepared to meet with Nokia representatives if the group was willing to reconsider its decision.

But German deputy Andrea Nahles, a leading figure on the German left, acknowledged that "we cannot change a business decision at the political level."
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