Volkswagen is sticking to plans to close plants despite resistance from its employees Germany firmly. “We have to reduce our capacities and adapt to the new realities,” said VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer (54) to “Welt am Sonntag”. This included component locations and vehicle factories. When asked whether VW could avoid closing a plant, Schäfer said: “We don’t see that happening at the moment.”
Schäfer also did not want to rule out the threatened dismissals. The job cuts “across the demographic curve and with the current instruments such as partial retirement and termination offers will not be enough,” he said. That would take too long. When reorganizing the brand, he is thinking about a period of three or four years.
The demand of the IG Metall After salary cuts in management, Schäfer agreed. “If there is an agreement in the collective bargaining, then for me it is part of it that the board and management make a contribution,” he said. Since January, the board’s fixed salary has been reduced by 5 percent, and the management has also foregone an inflation adjustment of 1,000 euros and a 3.5 percent salary increase.
There are warning strikes at VW at the beginning of December. The IG Metall collective bargaining committee decided this unanimously, as the union announced on Friday. After inconclusive collective bargaining round on Thursday They want to increase the pressure on the company. The union initially did not provide details about dates and affected locations.