The Volkswagen works council in Baunatal is pushing for the permanent employment of 380 employees, whose contracts expire at the end of the year. He is “optimistic that we will be able to find a partial solution for a large number of temporary employees in a few days,” said works council chairman Carsten Büchling on Wednesday after a works meeting at the Volkswagen plant in Kassel, as the location is officially called. VW board member Thomas Schmall, who is responsible for the component plants, said at the works meeting that it would be conceivable to find an initial solution in component production for 100 employees, Büchling reported. In addition to component production, there is also a large distribution center for spare parts at the location. No figures were given as to the extent to which there are prospects for temporary employees there. According to employee representatives, the majority of the 380 employees whose contracts are now expiring have been with Volkswagen for six years. Around 290 of them have already tried to legally sue for continued employment, said IG Metall’s first representative in northern Hesse, Oliver Dietzel.Volkswagen management on austerity driveThe group’s board of directors in Wolfsburg has set the goal of cutting 35,000 jobs at all German locations by 2030. In Baunatal, around 500 temporary workers had to leave at the end of 2024, and another 700 in the summer. More on the topic According to the human resources manager, Jörg Asmuth, the plant is currently well utilized. They even use employees from other locations: “It’s no secret that we have a surplus of locations at Volkswagen, but we have temporary needs at the Kassel location,” said Asmuth. When asked, he added that, as the HR manager for the location, he wished he could give those who have been working here on a temporary basis for years a perspective – but he also feels obliged to show solidarity with employees from other locations: “I very much hope that if we are ever in trouble, that other locations will show solidarity,” plant manager Jörg Fenstermann emphasized that efficiency in the Baunatal factory had increased. Around 400 workshops on optimizing processes contributed to this. He was also optimistic for the coming year: “We are well on the way to achieving the goals we have set for ourselves by the end of 2025.”
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