German automaker Volkswagen is set to pay around 100,000 workers on collective wage deals a 2018 bonus of 4,750 euros ($5,400) each, the largest such payout since 2015 when they got 5,900 euros, a newsletter to staff stated on Tuesday.
Works council chief Bernd Osterloh stated production programs had been modified and shifts re-allocated as part of a reorganization of every plants.
“It is only fair that the staff gets its share of success,” he stated according to the newsletter.
The size of the payment should not be read as a sign of operating profits at the Volkswagen passenger car brand as commercial vehicles were also added in the scheme, and the number of employees on part time contracts who receive less must be taken into account, the newsletter stated.
Volkswagen Group, which also owns Audi, Porsche, Seat and other brands, has just released data for 2018 showing operating profit increased 0.7 percent to 13.92 billion euros.
Volkswagen is proposing a dividend of 4.80 euros a share for ordinary stock, which 90 cents more than for 2017.
Employees, that are entitled to a share of profits under VW’s co-determination rules, in 2017 got 2,905 euros after the fall-out from the automaker’s scandal over diesel emissions test cheating impacted bonuses in that year and 2016.
