Before the meeting, the delegates visited the Siemens Digital Industries factory “F80” in Erlangen. After this tour, Mimon Uhamou (Germany), the SEC chairman, opened the meeting. The delegates approved some clarifications in the SEC´s rules of procedure, which concern formalities. They also agreed to introduce the election of deputies of the regional speakers and an additional training day following each meeting.

The SEC delegates voted unanimously for the re-election of the SEC Executive Committee, the leading team of the Siemens Europe Committee (SEC). This consists of:
Mimon Uhamou, Germany, as chairman
Bettina Haller, Germany, as deputy chairwoman and speaker of the region Germany
Ron Arndts, Netherlands, as second deputy chairman and speaker of the region North West Europe
Kai Sann, Austria, as speaker of the region Central East Europe
Ferran Navarro, Spain, as speaker of the region South West Europe

The new deputy speakers of the regions were also elected:
Tobias Bäumler, Germany, for the region Germany
Margit Orsolya Szántó, Hungary, for the region Central East Europe
Timi Hälinen, Finland, for the region North West Europe
Patrick New, Belgium, for the region South West Europe

Kai Sann gave a short report of the last regional meeting for the region Central East Europe, which took part in Zagreb. The delegates from this region gave reports from their countries and addressed these topics:

Results of collective bargaining in various countries, especially the difficulties caused by high inflation rates.
Worries of the employees of Innomotics, which has been carved out of Siemens. There is a huge demand for more information.
High amount of workload of the employees, which is even rising because of the lack of workforce.
This is a general problem in all European countries.

Ron Arndts gave a report of the meeting of the region North West Europe in Helsinki. The delegates from this region also gave short reports from their countries. They mentioned these issues:
All delegates mentioned the difficulties at the DI (Digital Industries) business. They described the cost-cutting measures of the management as in some parts excessive and even harmful to the business.

Ferran Navarro gave a report of the meeting of the region South West Europe, which took place in Athens. One topic of the meeting was the support of the union at Siemens in Athens in their negotiations with the management.

The delegates from the region South West Europe gave their country reports and addressed their specific issues:
Difficulties with recruiting of new employees.
Reduction of office space.
Excessive number of contract workers in some locations.

Birgit Steinborn, the chairwoman of the Central Works Council and Deputy Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of Siemens in Germany, gave some information on the current situation of the company.
She mentioned that Siemens just had three years of record-breaking profitability and that the strategy of the management fulfils the expectations of the shareholders. The impact of Artificial Intelligence applications is growing. She pointed out that the Siemens “Innovation Fund” and the “Future Fund”, which are existing in Germany, should be rolled out globally to handle the upcoming transformation processes and to safeguard employment.

Birgit Steinborn also addressed the issue of the upcoming elections of the European Parliament and the growing influence of ultra-nationalist, right-wing parties. She said, that this is a very worrying tendency and also very harmful for a company like Siemens, which is depending on global markets.

Bettina Haller, delegate from Germany and chairwoman of the Central Works Council of Siemens Mobility in Germany, gave some information on the situation at Siemens Mobility. The order backlog of Siemens Mobility is meanwhile huge, the revenue is growing and the employment is stable. The only problem is, that from the point of view of the management and the financial investors, the profitability of Siemens Mobility is too low. There is a growing tendency of localization of production, so that the rate of export from Europe is decreasing and more manufacturing is done outside of Europe.

Dorothea Simon, delegate from Germany and chairwoman of the Central Works Council of Siemens Healthineers in Germany, informed about Siemens Healthineers. She said, that the company Varian, which has been purchased by Siemens Healthineers, is now integrated.

Hagen Reimer, representing the German union IG Metall on the Supervisory Board of Siemens and also responsible for Siemens from the union side in Germany and on European level, presented the union perspective on Siemens. He said, that, for the moment, there is the chance for the unions to accompany the development at Siemens in a constructive way, but that conflicts can easily arise again. For this reason, it is important, that the unions keep their ability to carry out conflicts with the management.

Olaf Bolduan gave some information on the employees´ shareholder association “Wir für Siemens” (“We for Siemens”). The association is existing since 2016 and is representing a growing number of shareholders at Siemens, Siemens Healthineers and Siemens Energy.
The association supports long-term and sustainable investments at Siemens and stands against the demands of further dissection of the company.

On the next day, representatives of the management joined the SEC meeting.

Mimon Uhamou opened the second day of the meeting with a welcome speech. He congratulated all representatives, who have been elected into leading positions of the SEC the day before. He underlined the importance of the cooperation of all SEC delegates with the European unions and the strict rejection of all forms of right-wing extremism and excessive nationalism, which is a growing tendency in many countries in Europe and worldwide.

The management gave some information on the current situation at Siemens and business figures of the company. The rate of women in technical professions is still unsatisfactory at Siemens. The management has taken several measures to change this. The management also stated, that Siemens would clearly express itself against right-wing extremism, which is a growing tendency.

The delegates discussed their questions with the management.

A presentation of the Siemens platform Xcelerator was given to the delegates. This showed the Industrial Metaverse as instrument to cover all requirements of the future in industry. These are flexibility, comprehensive management of all applied devices, cyber security and integration of Artificial Intelligence and all kinds of data. The presentation was discussed with the SEC delegates.

Some information on the current developments at Siemens Healthineers was presented to the delegates. The acquisition of Varian was described as a decisive improvement of the company´s set-up. There is a high rate of software developers among the employees of Siemens Healthineers.

At the end of the joint meeting with the management, the SEC concluded together with the management representatives a declaration against extremism. Finally, the SEC delegates discussed the results of the meeting internally. Mimon Uhamou and Bettina Haller clarified, that all open questions will be followed up and afterwards be answered to the delegates.

After the meeting, the delegates visited the former German Fascist Party Rally Ground in Nürnberg, where they had a guided tour.

(Report: Dirk Linder)