10:16 am, October 18, 2024
Unions have lambasted Volkswagen claiming that talks between the carmaker and its Works Council have ‘gone from abysmal to controversial’.
The company is currently in the process of negotiating cuts with its workforce, having said that cost reductions are essential. However, it has yet to outline its future business strategy to the unions, which are now calling for immediate action.
In an interview published online to workers in Volkswagen’s Works Council newspaper on Thursday – and seen by news agency Reuters – Works Council leader Daniela Cavallo said the talks, taking place weekly, were ‘serious, critical, and controversial’.
‘We are not yet in a mode yet that could be called negotiation,’ Cavallo said. ‘It is first and foremost about numbers, data, facts, and finding a common understanding of the issues.’
Asked for a comment by Reuters, a Volkswagen spokesperson said the content of the discussions was confidential and that the company would not anticipate their outcome.
‘Significant cost reductions are necessary in order to remain competitive,’ the spokesperson added in a statement.
VW management and unions have been holding weekly meetings since the start of October, with suggestions that the company is to present its future strategy internally before the end of the year.
According to the online documents seen by Reuters, these include information around its implementation of AI and its future product strategy.
Negotiations over pay are separate to the above, with unions confirming that the next official round of salary negotiations will take place on October 30.
Deputy Works Council chief, Juergen Mahnkopf, said that unions would ‘paralyse the company’ if it made a one-sided decision to close plants against their will, threatening ‘massive resistance on all fronts and at all levels’.
