Volkswagen stated it has no strategies to keep a large number of temporary workers on its books following a media report noting management at the automaker’s Volkswagen brand would retain about 2,000 of them as labor leaders and executives battle over the company’s turn-around plan.
Labor leaders at Volkswagen recently halted cooperation with leading managers on issues such as overtime work and apprenticeships after alleging executives of pushing for higher savings on the back of a cost-cutting strategy agreed in November.
Europe’s biggest automaker is under pressure to make cuts at high-cost operations in Germany to money a shift to electrical vehicles and mobility services as it aims to move on from its emissions scandal, while still facing billions of euros in associated expenses.
At the heart of the disagreement are accusations by the works council that Volkswagen brand chief Herbert Diess is intending to cut momentary jobs faster and deeply than agreed under the “future pact” designed to raise success at Volkswagen’s core division.
Business daily Handelsblatt, mentioning unnamed sources, said on Sunday Volkswagen has vowed to keep about 2,000 temporary workers on its books and could use more concessions ahead of a meeting between both sides on Monday to aim to de-escalate the row.
A spokesperson for the automaker on Sunday refused to comment on the report but described a letter by Diess distributed to staff.
“We regret that we can not keep board temporary workers the way we did before: The company’s economic scenario is offering us little room at present. Keeping temporary workers in a larger way would once again raise the pressure for cutbacks in the core labor force,” Diess said in the letter dated February 10.
Volkswagen has stated it stands by the future pact but anticipates tension in between management and the labor force concerning its implementation.
