The car manufacturer Volkswagen is serious about its stricter austerity measures, which are intended to reduce costs and ensure competitiveness. As VW announced on Tuesday, several collective agreements have been terminated. This includes, above all, the employment security that has been maintained since 1994, which has so far ruled out dismissals for operational reasons. The management must enable VW to “invest in new technologies and new products on its own,” says Human Resources Director Gunnar Kilian. In its current state, VW does not see enough financial leeway for this. The works council, however, says it wants to bitterly defend itself against the “historic attack on our jobs”. The same applies to factory closures, which the company is also threatening. The job security applies to around 120,000 employees of Volkswagen AG. “New providers are pushing into Europe.” In addition to this contract, a regulation for highly paid specialists, the “Tariff Plus” contract, was also overturned on Tuesday. VW is also canceling its obligation to take on fully trained trainees as well as VW’s internal regulations on temporary work, which is organized within the group via the company Autovision. It belongs to a joint venture with the city of Wolfsburg. VW and the works council now want to quickly start discussions in the course of the upcoming negotiations about a new company tariff. However, the positions are far apart. The works council warns that by ending the employment guarantee, VW could temporarily revert to the rules of the 1990s, which even meant higher costs. At the same time, layoffs on a larger scale are possible.More on the topicVW justifies the interventions by saying that the European automotive industry has been in a “very demanding and serious situation for a long time.” “The economic environment has recently worsened again, new providers are pushing into Europe,” said a statement sent out on Tuesday. VW has to react to this. The union, on the other hand, speaks of a threatening backdrop with which the board members reached “into the cheapest management drawer”. Last week, the group announced a stricter savings plan, which for the first time no longer excludes factory closures in Germany. It had previously become clear that the previous efficiency programs were not enough to counteract this.
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