Riot at the Cologne Ford factory
Three police were injured by protestors at the company’s premesis.
A demonstration of disgruntled Belgian Ford employees in front of the auto company’s premesis in Cologne escalated yesterday morning. Approximately 200 employees that worked in the Genk factory before it was closed blockaded the main entrance to the Cologne factory, according to police, setting tires ablaze and shooting firecrackers. Then a group of about 40 masked demonstrators stormed the premesis. They climbed over fences broke open doors and windows and occupied one building. When a contingent of police arrived, the officers were pelted with fireworks. Three police officers sustained auditory trauma in the process. Gradually the situation calmed back down. The police arrested six men; the state prosecutor investigated them because of the injuries. The amount of property damage is unknown.
The Belgians arrived in five busses, in order to disrupt international meetings of Ford executives in Cologne yesterday and today. At the meetings it was determined, among other things, to schedule the closing of the factory in Genk at the end of 2014. 4500 employees will be affected.
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