BASF SE signs new site agreement

The management and employee representatives at BASF SE signed on May 6 a new site agreement. Entitled “Living the new BASF together!”, the agreement applies to the approximately 34,000 employees of BASF SE at the Ludwigshafen site. It will run for five and a half years (from June 1, 2020 until December 31, 2025) and replaces the current site agreement, which would have expired at the end of 2020.

 

BASF SE will continue to forgo forced redundancies for the duration of the agreement. In addition, the agreement states that an annual average of at least €1.5 billion will be spent on investment, modernization and maintenance at the Ludwigshafen site each year until 2025.

 

The new site agreement represents a commitment to the role of Ludwigshafen within BASF on the part of the company management and the employee representatives. The site is to act as a role model and pioneer for the entire group when it comes to tackling key challenges. In order to compete successfully in the future, too, the following topics have been defined: 1) Enhancing occupational and plant safety; 2) Resource-saving and low-emission production in the Verbund; 3) Expansion of digitalization in production, administration and business processes; 4) Future-proof mobility solutions in goods and passenger transport; 5) Further strengthening of Ludwigshafen as a key hub for the BASF Research Verbund; and 6) Continuous optimization of structures and processes to achieve a more agile organization. 

 

With the new site agreement, BASF is making a further commitment to Ludwigshafen as a research site. Although for many years BASF has been increasingly globalizing its research activities and focusing its activities on growth markets, Ludwigshafen remains the most important research and development site in the BASF Group.

 

 

Continuous training of employees 

In its efforts to remain an attractive, forward-looking employer for employees, BASF uses more than just modern ways of working. To allow the employees to use and develop their skills and expertise in the best possible way, the company has oriented its range of advanced training courses towards the future. A modern learning environment aims to prepare employees for the working world of the future. BASF will continue to give internal employee development priority over external recruitment and will work even harder to enhance employee expertise in the respective fields and use it in the best possible way. The two parties have also agreed to extend the minimum period spent in a position.

 

Another key focus of the site agreement is the joint commitment to in-house vocational training. It is the cornerstone that will secure a long-term supply of qualified specialist employees to meet the rising demand. The commitment to vocational training at BASF SE and the BASF Training Verbund is thus being continued at the highest level.

 

Further development of transport offerings for employees

In the new site agreement, the company management and the employee representatives have also agreed to develop existing transport offerings for employees. Local public transport plays a key role here. In the third quarter of 2020, BASF will offer employees at the Ludwigshafen site a new annual ticket for the Rhine-Neckar transportation network (Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar) at a reduced rate subsidized by BASF. The demolition and renovation of the elevated highways in Ludwigshafen is a major challenge for the transport capacity of the region and the transport offerings aim to reduce pressure on the roads by offering BASF employees an incentive to switch to public transport. To achieve this, a new model was developed together with the transport providers and it is now also being offered to other companies.