Employees and MAN jointly support refugees in Germany. OREANDA-NEWS. The MAN Group is supporting several refugee aid projects. MAN and the Works Council are working hand in hand with various relief organizations in Germany — ranging from quick and practical emergency relief to long-term measures. “We want to meet the people’s most urgent needs and offer them hope for the future. Our commitment will be focused and based on demand and sustainability,” says Josef Schelchshorn, Chief Human Resources Officer and Arbeitsdirektor (Executive Board member responsible for employee relations) at MAN SE. Saki Stimoniaris, Chairman of the Group Works Council, adds: “Apart from emergency relief, we are supporting education projects and integration measures for the job market. In this way, we integrate people into our society.”

Partnership with SOS Children’s Villages
Over the last few months, SOS Children’s Villages and MAN have been supporting refugee children, families, and unaccompanied refugee minors. The Company is promoting the refugee aid project of the charitable association with almost €90,000, supporting institutions in Munich, Augsburg, Salzgitter, and at the Ammersee lake. An important principle is to create sustainable prospects for refugee children and to give them the chance to become part of society and educational programs. The MAN employees are helping, too, and donated the proceeds from a raffle — €13,000 in total. In Landsberg am Lech, three living units with unaccompanied minor refugees will benefit from this financial support. A teacher has been hired to teach the youths in a language course; in addition, they will have intensive lessons to reach their intended school-leaving qualification.

Educational lighthouse in Augsburg
With the educational lighthouse project at MAN Diesel & Turbo in Augsburg, two young men from Afghanistan and Egypt are participating in a supported entry-qualification program. They came to Germany as unaccompanied refugee minors; their integration phase began on September 14, 2015. The aim is to take them on as vocational trainees after one year. “I am impressed how motivated and dedicated both of them are. When they came, their specific aim was to become professional machinists. Both of them are ambitious and have learnt to speak German in an incredibly short time — language skills above all are absolutely essential when it comes to successful integration,” says Herbert Huttner, head of the training center at MAN Diesel & Turbo in Augsburg.

MAN appeals for donations at all German sites
The Executive Board and the Group Works Council invite the employees of all MAN sites in Germany to donate: “The large number of refugees has stretched the state and relief organizations to their limit. Please help to meet the people’s most urgent needs and offer them hope for the future as a member of our society,” Josef Schelchshorn, Chief Human Resources Officer and Arbeitsdirektor and Saki Stimoniaris, Chairman of the General Works Council, both call for in a joint statement. Together with a corporate donation, the collected employee donations will go to relief organizations at selected MAN sites. “The Company will generously top up the employees’ donations. We can achieve so much together! We will therefore select suitable projects for support, based on demand and sustainability,” Josef Schelchshorn and Saki Stimoniaris stated.

Buses for employees of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees is deploying mobile teams to flexibly support the overstretched reception centers. The employees travel to places where particularly high numbers of asylum seekers arrive and are registered. MAN will support the Federal Office for Migration with three buses; the mobile teams can use them free of charge until October 10, 2015.