Leadership crisis at thyssenkrupp: foundation emphasizes unity
In the dispute over the future course of the industrial group thyssenkrupp, IG metall and the krupp foundation, which has come in for criticism, have spoken out with a joint commitment to continuity.
"The foundation and employee representatives have always stood up together for the stability of the company. That will not change in the future," the newspaper westdeutsche allgemeine zeitung quoted foundation head ursula gather and markus grolms, who sits on the supervisory board of the group on behalf of IG metall, as saying on tuesday. With a 21 percent stake, the foundation is the largest shareholder in the dax company.
Meanwhile, north rhine-westphalia’s minister president armin laschet (CDU) invited representatives of the company and the union to a meeting. The date was scheduled for thursday, it was said from government circles. The "rheinische post" had previously reported that. Since the end of last year, laschet has also been a member of the board of trustees of the krupp foundation under the leadership of gather.
Following the surprise resignation of thyssenkrupp boss henrich hiesinger last week, accusations were made against the foundation that it had not given the group boss enough backing in his dealings with critical investors. Shareholders such as the swedish financial investor cevian and the U.S. Hedge fund elliott had attacked hiesinger, in some cases sharply.
In response to the resignation, the works council had warned of a breakup of the conglomerate. Against this backdrop, the staff had urged gather to abide by its articles of association, the "rheinische post" reported. "The purpose of the foundation should be to promote the unity of fried. The newspaper quoted from the preamble to the foundation’s articles of association: "we want to preserve krupp in accordance with the will of its forefathers for the future as well. The foundation is free to manage the assets, but in the spirit of the founder and his ancestors, it should ensure that the unity of the company is preserved as far as possible.
