Volvo move is “deathblow” to Sweden’s North says union
Volvo Group announced Wednesday that it will be moving cab trim operations from a factory in the city of Umeå, in northern Sweden, to Gothenburg, a city in southern Sweden, in order to save costs on the manufacture of heavy duty trucks.
The company will also be moving the assembly of medium duty trucks from Ghent, Belgium, to Blainville, France.
According to the press release, a total of 900 people, of which 700 in Sweden, will be affected, and that staff cutbacks are expected, though it is unclear how many.
Swedish news agency TT reports that the metal workers union, IF, has called the company’s decision a “deathblow to industrial jobs in Umeå and the north of Sweden,” and says the decision means that 600 jobs will disappear from the region.
