Saab: Bankruptcy threat for Swedish carmaker

Saab production has been stalled for months. Photo / Supplied

Saab Automobile's two biggest unions said they're likely to ask a court to put the cash-starved Swedish carmaker into bankruptcy in about two weeks unless salaries are paid by then.

Saab, which was scheduled to pay factory workers and administrative staff yesterday, said it may be forced to postpone payments as "committed" funds from investors may not arrive in time. Saab paid salaries about a week late in June and July. Any delay in payments will prompt the unions to start a process aimed at ensuring state coverage of wages in the event of the carmaker's failure, officials from the IF Metall and Unionen labor groups said.

The unions, after gaining employees' backing, would first file payment requests with Saab. If salaries remain unpaid in seven days, they may then ask a district court to declare Saab bankrupt.

"We must start the process, as there's no alternative to our moving to protect our members' wages," Veli-Pekka Saikkala, head of salary negotiations at IF Metall's headquarters in Stockholm, told Bloomberg. "Later, if we don't see a solution, we'll likely be forced to act."

The carmaker, which GM sold last year, halted production in late March amid a cash crunch, and the factory at Saab's Trollhaettan, Sweden, headquarters has been quiet since early June. Saab is trying to raise more funds and has said it aims to restart manufacturing in a few weeks.

Sweden's Debt Enforcement Agency started a collection process on August 16 after Saab missed a deadline to pay suppliers.

"We haven't decided if we would file for bankruptcy but that would be a natural part of the process," said Anette Hellgren, Unionen's representative at the carmaker. "We're taking one day at a time and are still hopeful it won't come to that."

Saab has told employees there is a risk it may have to delay paying wages. According to authoriities, more than 100 debt claims have been filed against Saab with the collection agency.