DUISBURG/BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - There will be no compulsory redundancies at Thyssenkrupp's steel division despite reduced production. "The fact that we can rule out compulsory redundancies at Thyssenkrupp Steel as part of the restructuring is an important step," Deputy Supervisory Board Chairman Detlef Wetzel told the "Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung". However, it is also foreseeable that "a lot will still be demanded of many people in the company," said Wetzel, without giving details.

The agreement was set out in a paper signed by the heads of Thyssenkrupp AG and Thyssenkrupp Steel, Miguel Lopez and Bernhard Osburg, as well as the soon-to-be investor Daniel Kretinsky, among others, the report said. A Thyssenkrupp spokesperson confirmed the agreement.

The Thyssenkrupp Steel division is Germany's largest steel company with around 27,000 employees, 13,000 of them in Duisburg alone. Production capacities in Duisburg are to be significantly reduced against the backdrop of the weakening economy and high energy costs, which will entail job losses.

The workforce is also up in arms over the planned entry of Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky. His EPCG Group will enter the steel division, wants to increase its share and separate the division from the Group in the long term.

"Before we take off with our restructuring aircraft, everyone involved needs to know where the runway is," Supervisory Board Chairman Sigmar Gabriel told the newspaper. That is why it was so important to conclude the agreement. "After all, we are talking about the fate of 27,000 employees and their families."

The agreement also provides for an "accompanying commission" to be set up to ensure the participation of employee representatives and a "regulated exchange" between the steel division and the two future owners, Thyssenkrupp and EPCG, as quoted by the "Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung". The commission is to remain in place for the entire restructuring process./jcf/DP/ngu