Siemens' new CEO riles labour reps with news of job cuts

* Works council chief opposes margin-driven move

* Says Siemens needs people-focused, sustainable programme

* Comments come after weekend news of 15,000 job cuts

* Cuts are part of Siemens' existing savings programme

MUNICH/FRANKFURT, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Weekend news of 15,000 job cuts at Germany's Siemens has put the German engineering group's new chief executive, Joe Kaeser, on a collision course with workers' representatives only two months after he took the helm.

"We oppose a margin-driven job-cutting programme. Siemens needs a sustainable and future-oriented programme that focuses on people and not just on margins," works council chief Lothar Adler said on Monday.

Siemens, Germany's second-biggest company by market value, aims to save 6 billion euros ($8.1 billion) to close the gap with more profitable rivals such as U.S.-based General Electric and Switzerland's ABB.

It had so far declined to say how many jobs would go as part of the programme, announced under former CEO Peter Loescher, who was ousted and replaced by Kaeser following a fierce boardroom battle two months ago.

On Sunday, a company spokesman told Reuters that Siemens would shed an overall 15,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of its overall workforce, half of which were already gone.

A third of the job cuts are in Siemens' German home market. Of those, 2,000 are to be at the industrial products business, and 1,400 jobs each in the energy and infrastructure businesses.

Kaeser faces the challenge of whipping into shape a lumbering conglomerate with almost 370,000 workers, 78 billion euros of annual sales and products ranging from gas turbines to high-speed trains and ultrasound machines, as well as regaining investor confidence.

When he took office, he said he would continue his predecessor's savings programme, but also vowed to put Siemens back on an "even keel", end years of continual restructuring and do away with a focus on short-sighted margin targets.

Under Loescher, Siemens announced the massive savings programme and said it aimed to push up the margin on its core operating profit to at least 12 percent from 9.5 percent by 2014. It was forced to abandon that target in June as its main markets remained weaker than expected.

"This (savings) programme neither reached the target of increasing Siemens' margin in the short term nor does it appear that the goal of improving complicated processes has seriously been tackled," deputy works council chief Birgit Steinborn said.

In the first nine months of its financial year, which ends on Monday, Siemens' profit margin shrank to 5.7 percent due to project charges and weak demand for industrial products such as automation and drive technologies.

Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Hans-Joachim Heimbuerger affirmed his "buy" recommendation on Siemens stock and said the headcount reduction would help the company improve its operating profit per employee compared with rivals.

In its last quarter, Siemens' operating profit per employee stood at 2,728 euros, about 13 percent below ABB and 70 percent below GE.

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UK Labour leader sees rating shrink as record questioned

Britain's opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband waves to delegates after addressing the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Bournemouth, southern England September 10, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Luke MacGregor

By Peter Griffiths

LONDON | Wed Sep 11, 2013 2:01pm EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - British Labour leader Ed Miliband, the main challenger to Prime Minister David Cameron in 2015 elections, has suffered a sharp slide in his personal ratings and his party's lead has been cut to a thin margin, a poll found on Wednesday.

Miliband has faced criticism from inside and outside his party over his leadership style, his reform of Labour's historic links with trade unions and the tactics he used to effectively block Britain's involvement in possible strikes against Syria.

Miliband, saw his rating plunge to its lowest point since research company Ipsos MORI started recording it, with six out of 10 saying they were not satisfied with his performance.

Even among supporters of his center-left party, just over half (52 percent) said they weren't happy with him. That was Miliband's worst score among Labour voters ever recorded by Ipsos MORI.

Senior Labour figures have said the party's lead should be much wider at this stage in the election cycle, given the economy's poor performance until recently, and the poll is likely to increase pressure on Miliband's leadership.

"There has been much discussion over the perceived softness of Labour's lead and this poll shows that clearly," said Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos MORI.

Since beating his brother David to the party leadership in 2010, Miliband has failed to match Cameron's personal ratings.

Former Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell called for an end to the criticism, saying it had created a "sense of toxic disunity" in the party that governed Britain for 13 years until 2010 under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

The latest poll gave Labour a three point lead over the Conservatives, based on those certain to vote. Labour were down three points and the Conservatives up four since the last poll.

The survey also measured the leaders' net personal ratings - the number of people who say they are satisfied with their performance minus the number who are dissatisfied.

Miliband's stood at minus 36 percent, in line with lows recorded by former Conservative leaders Iain Duncan Smith and William Hague. Cameron's net rating stood at minus 20 percent.

Cameron was seen as a more capable leader, better in a crisis and with more personality than Miliband.

A run of upbeat economic figures helped push the economic optimism index to +23, its highest score since November 2009.

Ipsos MORI questioned 1,000 adults between September 7-9.

Miliband led a successful parliamentary revolt last month against Cameron's bid to seek approval in principle for military action in Syria over an alleged chemical attack - saying he was not opposed to force in theory but unconvinced by Cameron's case.

Critics accused him of acting out of political opportunism rather than principle.

(Editing by Andrew Osborn and Andrew Heavens)

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