2024-07-04 01:15:15
The new month of July has started off unpleasantly for the approximately 240 employees of the wheel rim manufacturer BBS. They are still waiting for their wages. And the future of the company is uncertain.
The automotive supplier BBS from Schiltach in the Black Forest is facing insolvency, according to consistent media reports. Apparently, orders have not been received, and there has also been a dispute over trademark rights of the previous owner. According to reports, the salaries of the approximately 240 remaining employees were not paid in May and June, and IG Metall also confirmed this to t-online.
“The future of BBS is completely open at the moment,” said Stefan Prutscher, political secretary at the responsible IG Metall Freudenstadt. “With a few exceptions, the company has been at a standstill for months.” Smaller orders are still being processed, but the majority of employees simply have nothing to do.
This means that employees have little to fear, says Prutscher. They can only quit – or try to claim their salary by filing a writ of execution. “But that also takes time, and the authorities have to stick to deadlines,” said Prutscher.
If insolvency does occur, at least the salary would be paid by the employment agency. However, the owner or a creditor would have to file for insolvency. The union cannot file it.
BBS employees are experienced in dealing with bankruptcies: the current bankruptcy would be the fifth in the past 20 years. Only at the end of last year did the traditional company, which already equipped Michael Schumacher’s Formula 1 car with rims, survive its fourth bankruptcy.
At that time, the company was taken over by the Turkish investor group İş Global Teknik İnşaat AS – the two cousins Ilkem Şahin and Karani Güleç are the new BBS managing directors. According to Prutscher, however, they are currently unavailable. “It’s a big problem when the owners aren’t there.” Since December, the company, which had been on short-time work for several months, has already lost around 40 employees.
“Dozens of fates depend on the company, people who have been with the company for more than 30 years,” said Prutscher. “That is what makes the situation so unbelievably tragic.” The works council has already sent two letters to the owners – and has now set a deadline of this Thursday. However, the deadline is not legally binding. “Ultimately, the employees only have the last bit of hope left,” said Prutscher.
Founded in 1970, BBS primarily produces aluminum rims for high-end vehicles. The name stands for the surnames of the two founders and the company headquarters: Heinrich Baumgartner and Klaus Brand in Schiltach.