FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen and its worker representatives stated Friday they’ve reached a wage deal for 120,000 German staff that avoids plant closings and bars involuntary layoffs by 2030.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen and its worker representatives stated Friday they’ve reached a wage deal for 120,000 German staff that avoids plant closings and bars involuntary layoffs by 2030. The settlement contains provisions for VW to shed greater than 35,000 jobs by early retirement and buyouts by 2030.
The deal, reached in drawn-out bargaining periods that stretched late into the evening, is geared toward enabling the Wolfsburg-based carmaker to deal with a drop in demand in Europe, increased raw-material prices and rising competitors from Chinese language automakers.
Lagging gross sales in Europe imply the corporate has misplaced potential gross sales of 500,000 vehicles a 12 months, or the output of two factories.
The deal would save VW 1.5 billion euros ($1.56 billion) a 12 months in labor prices and 4 billion euros a 12 months by slashing manufacturing capability by extra 700,000 autos throughout its German crops by totally different manufacturing preparations.
That the settlement avoids wholesale plant closings underscores the function performed at Volkswagen by worker representatives and the state of Decrease Saxony, who collectively have majority on the board of administrators. That provides staff and the native authorities uncommon leverage.
A prime Volkswagen govt known as it “a good agreement.”
“We had three priorities in the negotiations: reducing overcapacity in German locations, reducing labor costs and bringing development costs down to a competitive level,” stated Thomas Schaefer, head of the corporate’s namesake Volkswagen model.
“We reached sustainable solutions in all three areas.”
Thorsten Groeger, negotiator for the IG Metall union, stated workers additionally accepted “painful concessions.” A union assertion stated that the lack of bonus funds and different compensation had been a part of the deal however that month-to-month wage ranges wouldn’t be touched. The corporate had pressed for a ten% wage minimize.
Volkswagen argues that it should decrease prices in Germany to ranges achieved by opponents and by Volkswagen crops in japanese Europe and South America.
Although main plant closings had been averted, a manufacturing unit in Dresden will stop manufacturing on the finish of subsequent 12 months as earlier deliberate, and a plant in Osnabrueck is to provide T-Roc SUVs solely by the center of 2027. After these dates, the corporate will search different makes use of for Osnabrueck. High Volkswagen worker consultant Daniela Cavallo stated the Dresden plant may very well be repurposed “also in cooperation with other organizations” that she did not specify.
The corporate stated it will transfer manufacturing of its Golf mannequin from its dwelling plant at Wolfsburg to Puebla, Mexico, and cut back the meeting strains at Wolfsburg from 4 to 2 that might produce the ID.3 and CUPRA Born compact vehicles. Some 4,000 car growth jobs can be dropped at Wolfsburg.
David Mchugh, The Related Press
