566 employees honored for up to 50 years of loyalty to the company

Blessing, who has spent two decades with Dillinger Hütte himself, added: “A company is only as strong as its team.” This is particularly true in times of economic difficulty like those the steel industry is currently experiencing. “Only through the shared effort put into our ‘DH 2014 plus’ cost-cutting program have we been able to lower our costs enough to get out of the red, at least where the individual earnings of Dillinger Hütte are concerned, even if the overall situation of the group continues to be difficult. The market has not helped us in this effort, as the selling prices for our products have fallen even further since last year. Your dedication has not only helped write the history of Dillinger Hütte – but has also set the course for the future!” Employees are also the focus of the success of “us Hütt” for Michael Fischer, Chairman of the Dillinger Hütte Works Council. The numbers involved are hard for many people to imagine today, Fischer said: 349 employees with 25 years of tenure with the company, 162 with 35 years, 52 with 45 years and three employees with 50 years with the company. In his speech, Fischer also recounted some of the most important events during this time, such as the construction of a circular arc-type continuous casting machine constructed 50 years ago in Dillingen – the world’s first and most powerful of its kind at the time. “But even with all of the state-of-the-art technology, it is still the people with know-how who develop, control, operate and further optimize this technology.”

Speaking of the signature of the employees: The program for the anniversary celebration traditionally is also arranged with the help of the employees of Dillinger Hütte. The company band provided the musical accompaniment. The emcee for the evening was employee Dennis Reuter, and a popular item on the program of events was the “anniversary film” by Wolfgang Schmitt, another long-time Dillinger Hütte employee. The film showed the celebrants and yet another entertaining review of the year’s most important events at the plant. The evening also featured an exciting and wide-ranging entertainment program including a laser show, the Magic Artists, the “Groovin Affairs” cover band, and performance artist, air acrobat and pole dancer Marina Yakubova.