Waggonbau Görlitz
The origins go back to the saddle-maker Johann Christoph Lüders to open his workshop on June 5, 1828, in Görlitz at the Obermarkt (Upper Market).
Conrad Schiedt owned a metal works shop in the Büttnergasse (Cooper Alley) producing the iron parts required for the otherwise wooden rail coaches.
The rolling stock works continued to flourish during rail transport expansion in Germany and the German Customs Union.
He bought a number of buildings at Well Street and he established a factory with steam hammers in 1853 at the site – the beginning of industrial production.
During that time, a great fire on August 7/8, 1945 destroyed most of the remaining rolling stock factory.
This would be included in the LOWA group (Lokomotiv- und Waggonbau - locomotive and rail car construction) in 1948.
On July 5, 1995 the 5000. double-deck coach was delivered to German national railways (Deutsche Bahn after reunification).
Still being state owned the DWA were finally sold to the private equity Advent International in March 1996.
The new double-deck rail cars were able to win other public tenders throughout Europe such that production capacity fully ran up to 2014.
The world's largest train manufacturer after the Chinese CRRC, is shifting its creation from Germany to Poland.
The Alstom sites in Hennigsdorf near Berlin, in Bautzen and Salzgitter are also losing production capacity, according to employee representatives.
Since Alstom and previously Bombardier have hardly invested in Görlitz for years, the plant had become increasingly less competitive.
Since these projects are finite, Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) and IG Metall were trying to find new investors.
In view of the state elections on September 1st and the AfD's high poll ratings, Alstom originally wanted to communicate the decision to close the plant only in late autumn.
The Canadians had not been successful in two decades, with quality defects and rounds of restructuring repeatedly making the headlines.
The best-cost strategy of the French company management envisaged the production of the trains in Katowice and Wroclaw.
"We want the 150-year-old site to be preserved, we are therefore expecting proposals from Alstom," the Dresden Ministry of Economic Affairs announced weeks ago.
The employees waived a total of € 34 million in holiday pay per year, and the company promised to make investments.
Because the employer allegedly failed to meet its obligations, IG Metall recently terminated the collective agreement.
IG Metall is preparing lawsuits for thousands of employees to force payment of holiday pay.
