Volkswagen is offering newly unionized workers at its Tennessee assembly plant a 14 percent wage increase over four years. The company said there would also be profit sharing.
The carmaker and the UAW union have been in contract talks for months. According to VW, the company’s offer now includes profit sharing for the first time and improves health benefits for certain employees at the plant.
Whether the UAW will accept the offer is more than questionable. Last year, the union wrested salary increases of up to 25 percent from Ford, Stellantis and GM.
VW is also in collective bargaining in Germany. The carmaker is trying to cut costs to compete with Asian manufacturers. According to VW, factory closures and job cuts are also conceivable in this context.