Workers at ADtranz have jobs secured

There was good news for most ADtranz workers on Tuesday Keystone

Fifteen months after the rail technology group, ADtranz, announced the closure of its sites in Zurich and Pratteln in canton Basel, the company says most of its workers will keep their jobs.

At a news conference in Basel on Tuesday, ADtranz said that 585 of 714 workers had found new positions.

It added that it would continue to seek a solution for the remaining 129 people whose jobs are to go at the Basel site. But redundancies haven’t been ruled out.

ADtranz said the positive result followed close cooperation between the company and its social partners.

Of those who have found new jobs, 169 are to be taken on Railcor, which begins operations at the beginning of April. Railcor has just received an order worth SFr 217 million ($129 million) from the Swiss Federal Railways.

A further 195 people have found work at other companies, while the rest will be placed within ADtranz or other firms taking over the company’s contracts.

Workers’ groups gave the news a muted reception.

The Union for Industry, Trade and Services disputed ADtranz’s figure that only 129 people faced an uncertain future. It said a further 100 would have to take on less professional jobs outside ADtranz.

swissinfo with agencies