German defence industry workers have called for Siemens AG to sell its defence electronics business to Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG (Dasa) and not to Frances Thomson-CSF.
Siemens last week said it aimed to reach an agreement by September 30 to sell the unit, which has sales of 1.6 billion marks, to Dasa or Thomson - the finalists selected from a number of bidders. There may not be a sale to the state-owned French concern Thomson-CSF, said a statement by WLR, a body which groups works councils at a number of German defence companies.The sell out of defence technology financed with German tax money must finally come to an end, the WLR statement said.
The works councils said a sale to Thomson-CSF would result in loss of jobs and technology developed with German tax revenues.
Dasa is bidding for Siemens air and battlefield communications business in partnership with British Aerospace Plc Dasa spokesman Christian Poppe declined to detail its plans for the Siemens unit or its relationship with Bae in the purchase.
Poppe also declined to say if Dasa, a unit of car maker Daimler-Benz AG, expected to have an advantage because it is a German firm like Siemens.
In June, the unit formed ATM Airsys, a joint venture with Thomson that consolidated their airport communications businesses.
Dasa has said it wants to buy the Siemens business, which employs 1,600 workers and includes Siemens Plessey Systems Ltd in Britain, to help consolidate Germanys aerospace sector, and eventually the aerospace industry across Europe.
The WLR works councils said integration should proceed first on a national level as a way of securing German jobs when consolidation broadens.
