Germany Rages at Nokia Plant Closure

A crying woman holds out a Nokia mobile phone, a protest banner in her other hand. The image, which dominates the front cover of Thursday's Süddeutsche Zeitung and other German newspapers, symbolizes the wave of grief and indignation sparked in the western German city of Bochum by the news that Nokia is to close its plant in the city.

The Finnish cell phone manufacturer unexpectedly announced Tuesday that it would close its plant in Bochum in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia by the middle of the year, with the loss of around 2,300 jobs. A further 2,000 jobs at the plant's suppliers are also in danger. The company is moving production to a new plant in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, where wage costs are a fraction of those in Germany, with other functions going to Hungary and Finland. Hundreds of employees demonstrated outside the Bochum plant Wednesday in protest against the closure.