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Besvikelse på Ringhals
Vattenfall lägger ned Ringhals första och andra reaktor, som ett led i sparpaketet som presenterades under gårdagen. Unionenmedlemmarna är besvikna, även om det ännu inte är tal om personalneddragningar.
– Folk känner sig självklart besvikna. Vi har gjort jättestora investeringar och planerat för 2025. Det känns tråkigt, säger Eva-Lena Green, ordförande för Unionenklubben på Ringhals sedan två månader tillbaka.
Reaktorerna ett och två, som är bland de äldsta i Sverige, kan komma att stängas mellan 2018 och 2020. Än har de anställda inte fått något besked om det blir några personalneddragningar framöver. Förmodligen händer det inte så mycket på den fronten förrän reaktorerna verkligen stänger.
Nu drar ett projekt igång som går ut på att titta på kompetens och bemanning, både på den första och andra reaktorn samt på reaktor tre och fyra.
– Projektet ska se över vilken personal vi absolut måste ha kvar och hur länge. Sedan har vi 100 personer om året som går i pension, så det blir verkligen ett helikopterperspektiv. Vattenfall brukar vara måna om sin personal och det blir säkert även tal om avgångsvederlag.
Centralt anger Vattenfall ekonomiska skäl till nedläggningarna. Att man gjort en helomvändning på kort tid, från att förra året ha inlett bygget av en ny reaktor Ringhals, tror Eva-Lena Green beror på de låga elpriserna.
– Det är inget prat om politik utan de hänvisar till höga kostnader och skatt. Jag tror att 20 procent av våra kostnader är skatt.
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No guaranteed wages in Northvolt's US reconstruction
Northvolt's financial troubles continue. Now, the battery manufacturer's hopes rest on a reconstruction in the USA. However, the process means that the state guaranteed wages – lönegaranti – will not apply to Union members.
The clock is ticking for the struggling battery manufacturer Northvolt. During the autumn, debts have piled up with the Swedish Enforcement Authority, and recently several of the company's major shareholders withdrew from negotiations for new financing. Since its inception in 2015, Northvolt has raised SEK 110 billion, but now the money is almost gone. According to CEO Peter Carlsson, they need to raise just over SEK 10 billion in the coming year, but so far the search for new financing has been fruitless.
Maintaining control with Chapter 11
Therefore, Northvolt has now taken the next step to save the company. The management has applied for a so-called Chapter 11 procedure, a type of reconstruction process in the USA that was recently used by the airline SAS. One possible explanation for the battery manufacturer turning to an American court is that it is considered doubtful that Northvolt would be granted a Swedish reconstruction, as it requires the company to be fundamentally viable. Another advantage of Chapter 11 is that the management is likely to retain control over the company.
No guaranteed wages for employees
However, there is a downside – for the employees. In an American process, Northvolt's employees will not be able to benefit from the Swedish state guaranteed wages - lönegaranti - according to several legal experts contacted by Kollega.
– The Swedish state does not pay any guaranteed wages if the company has not initiated a reconstruction or bankruptcy in Sweden. If Northvolt only initiates a Chapter 11 procedure in the USA, all the company's obligations to employees in Sweden to pay wages and other compensation according to the employment contract remain, says Hans Andersson, chairman of the Swedish Association of Restructuring and Bankruptcy Administrators.
If Union members at Northvolt do not receive their wages, the union can, however, request the company to be declared bankrupt in a Swedish court.
– If Northvolt does not pay wages on time, the employee or the union can collect the wages through the Enforcement Authority and ultimately request that the company be declared bankrupt if the wages are not settled, explains Hans Andersson.
Unionen: "Will collect unpaid wages"
Filip Vujcic, a union lawyer at Unionen, also assesses that members cannot benefit from the state guaranteed wages when a corporate reconstruction is initiated in the USA.
– This means that Unionen, in the event of future unpaid wages, needs to safeguard its members' rights through wage collection. According to Swedish bankruptcy rules, a corporate reconstruction in the USA does not prevent a member's bankruptcy application from being examined in a Swedish court, he says.
Will Unionen request Northvolt to be declared bankrupt if members do not receive their wages?
– Unionen does not comment on that question at this time.
*In wage collection, Unionen usually sends a demand letter to the employer, who has seven days to pay the wages. If the wages are still not paid, the employer receives a payment order via service. If that does not help either, Unionen sends a bankruptcy application to the district court.
This text has been translated with the help of AI.
CHAPTER 11
- American reconstruction process aimed at giving a company a chance to continue with all or parts of its operations. Normally, no administrator is appointed, and the debtor continues to run the business themselves.
- The company must present a plan that must be approved by the court. The plan aims to determine which debts the debtor should pay and which debts should be written off. The plan also provides the opportunity to terminate unfavorable contracts and reorganize the business so that it can continue to operate profitably.
- One advantage of turning to a court in the USA instead of using the Swedish reconstruction process is that a Chapter 11 has an impact in several countries. If a group has companies in different countries, they are all drawn under the same process instead of carrying it out in each country and risking different outcomes.
