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Ford’s Belgium Workers Protest Plant Closing Plan
Employees from Ford Motor Co.'s assembly plant in Genk, Belgium, gathered outside the company's European headquarters in Cologne, Germany, on Wednesday to protest Ford's plans to close the factory in 2014.
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Employees from Ford Motor Co.'s assembly plant in Genk, Belgium, gathered outside the company's European headquarters in Cologne, Germany, on Wednesday to protest Ford's plans to close the factory in 2014.
The demonstration by about 250 of the factory's 4,300 workers turned violent. Protesters burned tires, broke windows and set off fireworks. Three police officers were injured and about 100 people were taken into temporary custody.
Ford said last month it would shutter the Genk facility and two plants in England. The closures are part of the company's restructuring of its European operations, which are expected to lose a combined $3 billion (€2.4 billion) this year and next.
Ford estimates the factory closings will save $500 million (€392 million) per year by 2015. The company aims to return to profitability in the region by about that time.
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