Production at the US car manufacturer Ford's plant in western Germany resumed on Thursday following the temporary return to work of employees from several suppliers in the city of Saarlouis on the French border.
"I can confirm that production was at a standstill until yesterday and that Ford Focuses have been rolling off the production line again since this morning," a Ford spokeswoman said in Cologne.
After four days of strike action, the local branch of the IG Metall union called on around 500 employees from five supplier companies in the industrial park in Saarlouis to temporarily resume work this morning.
The reason for the pause is that the companies on strike have moved and negotiations have resumed, the union announced. A deadline of Sunday had been set in order to achieve "final negotiation results," otherwise the strike could continue.
The Ford plant needs the parts manufactured by the suppliers for its production.
IG Metall wants to enforce social collective agreements for the employees of the plants, with severance payments and transfer companies. The reason for this is the end of production in Saarlouis announced by Ford in November 2025.
A social collective agreement has been in place for employees at the Ford plant itself since the end of February. The agreements include the continued employment of 1,000 of the total of 3,750 Ford employees until the end of 2032, high severance payments and bonuses, the formation of a transfer company and qualification programmes.
In addition, the end of production of the Ford Focus has been postponed by six months to November 2025.
