In the dispute over the reduction in the salaries of works councils Porsche the works council boss won in court. In the case of Harald Buck, the labor court found on Thursday that the reduction by the Volkswagen-Daughter was unjustified. (Ref.:23 Ca 3838/23). The judge ruled that no violation of the ban on preferential treatment was found. Porsche now has to pay Buck the money it withheld and classify him accordingly again. Four other employee representatives were also successful in their lawsuits against the car manufacturer’s actions. The judgments are not yet final.
Buck said the decision had a signal effect for other cases and other works council committees in Baden-Württemberg. The background to the lawsuits was that the works councils wanted to have it checked whether the adjustment to remuneration made by the company was legal in view of the new case law of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).
Against the background of a criminal case against VW managers, the Federal Court of Justice at the beginning of the year declared the long-standing practice of assessing the salaries of works councils based on their “hypothetical development” to be inadmissible. Out of concern about accusations of infidelity, several large companies have subsequently corrected their salaries. Volkswagen also cut the salaries of several works councils after the BGH ruling, but many successfully took the matter to the labor court.
The Stuttgart labor court further stated that the head of the works council had shown a desire for further training. This did not happen in the profession he trained in, but rather in the course of his work at the head of the employee representative body. At the time he took over the mandate in June 2002, the head of the works council was classified as a motor vehicle mechanic. During an initial inspection by Porsche, it was then classified according to the specifications of a service advisor. According to the court, he was reclassified as a motor vehicle mechatronics technician at the beginning of 2023. This led to significant salary losses. Buck has been the head of the 41-member committee since May 2022.
A Porsche spokeswoman said that the labor court had upheld the works council’s complaints. “The labor court has thus confirmed that Porsche AG legally set the remuneration of the works councils until the Federal Court of Justice ruled in January 2023.” Porsche welcomes the fact that the judgments have provided more legal certainty in this matter. The car manufacturer has the option of appealing to the Baden-Württemberg State Labor Court.