Bombardier Transportation cutting up to 2,200 railway jobs in Germany

MONTREAL – Bombardier’s railway division said Thursday it is eliminating up to 2,200 jobs in Germany by 2020, representing nearly a quarter of its workforce in the country.

The move is part of restructuring plans announced last fall to eliminate 7,500 transportation and aerospace jobs around the world.

The layoffs affecting 700 temporary workers applies mainly to plants in a Berlin suburb and Gorlitz near the Polish border, but no closures are foreseen.

The Montreal-based company (TSX:BBD.B) won’t exclude the possibility of similar cuts at production facilities in France, Britain or North America.

The union president at Bombardier’s railway plant in La Pocatiere, Que., says there is currently no impact for about 450 workers at the facility that is assembling Montreal subways cars.

Bombardier Transportation employs about 950 workers elsewhere in the Montreal area. It has 2,600 workers in the rest of Canada and 2,700 in the United States.

The company announced in early June the elimination of 650 positions by the end of next year in Switzerland.