The first European automobile group, the German Volkswagenplans to close at least three factories in Germany and cut “tens of thousands” of jobs, the works council announced this Monday.
The plan, presented by the management, includes a 10% pay cut for all employees and the transfer abroad of numerous activities of the group, which are currently in Germany, it indicated in a statement.
The German Government is aware of the situation that the company is going through and has admitted to being in contact with it and with those responsible for the workers.
“It is well known that Volkswagen is in a difficult situation,” said the German Government spokesperson at a regular press conference.
Cavallo and other union leaders at the German auto group promised “fierce resistance to the cuts.” “I can only warn all members of the board of directors and all those at the top of the company: do not mess with us, with the Volkswagen workforce,” the union leader said this Monday.
The German union IG Metall, which represents the majority of workers at the manufacturer’s plants in Germany, also vowed to oppose any plant closures or other major cuts.
“This is a stab in the heart of Volkswagen workers,” said Thorsten Gröger, regional director of the union in the western German state of Lower Saxony, where Volkswagen is based.
Volkswagen defends its cost plan
For their part, Volkswagen executives came out this Monday to defend their cost-cutting plans, although they did not directly comment on reports detailing that the company would eliminate tens of thousands of jobs.
Volkswagen brand CEO Thomas Schäfer said in a statement that costs at plants in Germany have become particularly high. “We cannot continue as before,” said Schäfer. «We are not productive enough in our German plants and our factory costs are currently 25% to 50% higher than we had planned. This means that individual German plants are twice as expensive as the competition,” he said.
The statement was published shortly after the statements of the director of the Volkswagen works council, Daniela Cavallo.
“Without comprehensive measures to regain competitiveness, we will not be able to afford to make significant investments in the future,” Volkswagen human resources director Gunnar Kilian said in a statement.
Without mentioning the specific measures
Kilian has not, however, directly addressed these claims and provided no details on the specific cost-cutting measures the automaker is considering. “The fact is that the situation is serious and the responsibility of the negotiating partners is enormous,” he added.
«We stick to the principle agreed with co-management that the discussion about the future of Volkswagen “It must be carried out first internally with our negotiating partners,” he added.
Volkswagen has announced “concrete proposals to reduce labor costs” ahead of scheduled collective negotiations with union leaders on Wednesday.
#Volkswagen #plans #close #factories #Germany #cut #tens #thousands #jobs
