Honours and successes at FISCHER, but cuts are also necessary

Mühlhausen. This year's company meeting took place at FISCHER Licht & Metall in Mühlhausen on Thursday, to which the management was also invited and attended in full. The current 192 employees had gathered in the large factory hall, where banners for illuminated advertising are usually built. Manuela Fuchs, chairwoman of the works council, congratulated the employees who have been with FISCHER for 40 and 25 years this year.

At the Christmas party in the evening at the Spitalstadl in Freystadt, Managing Director Stephan K. Fischer presented certificates and medals of honor to the long-serving employees: Anton Karg, Isabella Kurtz and Marianne Wittl for 40 years, and Christian Bauer, Thomas Holzheimer, Stefan Riek, Richard Wocelka and Christine Schwarz for 25 years each. In addition, all will receive one day of special leave.

The chairwoman of the works council said that this year's collective agreement had been positive for all employees through the conclusion of an in-house collective agreement, wage increases for all employees and vacation and Christmas bonuses. Compromises had been reached, said Manuela Fuchs, thanking the management for the objective cooperation. As in this year, the 23 trainees will be joined by three more in 2013: two construction mechanics and an industrial clerk.

There have been many changes, said Managing Director Stephan K. Fischer in his subsequent report. In the case of arcade rooflights (for train stations, etc.), the company is at the same level as in the previous year. In the metal sector, on the other hand, there was a slight decline, he said, because many automotive suppliers, including MAN, were working short hours. "But we are also getting other customers that we never dreamed of before," the company boss held out the prospect. In illuminated advertising, business is decent, but he expects a decline. There had been slumps above all in photovoltaics. "We have to downsize massively there," Fischer said. Despite economic difficulties of some large customers, however, there are still orders, he said, and because of high electricity prices, self-use of solar systems will increase, and with it demand.

The workplaces at FISCHER are technically safe and he has not found any deficiencies, said Uwe Rossow, who has been an expert in charge of occupational safety at the company since the middle of the year. The greatest risk is the human being, he said, and proved this both humorously and forcefully with pictures of workplaces. "Order and safety in the workplace are very close to my heart," Stephan K. Fischer emphasized, "every workplace accident hurts me personally, too."

Oliver Berner from IG Metall in Regensburg regretted that despite moderate wage agreements, layoffs for operational reasons could not be ruled out. "However, good wage settlements contribute to purchasing power," he said. - "After the wage increase is before the wage increase," interjected Stephan K. Fischer. - Berner went on to say that the crisis should not be talked into existence or squatted in front of like a rabbit in front of a snake. As the population declines, he said, we should also move away from social security contributions that are based solely on earned income. One problem, he said, is when people who work physically hard are not allowed to retire until 67. The question, he said, is "How can we design activities so that older people can do them?"

Stephan K. Fischer said he dislikes losing valuable employees because they are sick or can no longer work as much. He said he is open to reducing personal work hours. To keep the business running well, he cited three things necessary to do so: keeping the operation lean, streamlining the path from order to workbench, and standardizing workflows. "We're taking the current situation seriously," Fischer said, "and we have a definite plan for the future."