Most VW Workers Say Company’s Culture Hasn’t Changed

About two-thirds of Volkswagen AG’s hourly workers in Germany believe the company has made no progress in its effort to improve transparency and accountability.

VW vowed to address both issues in the wake of its diesel emissions cheating scandal in 2015. But Bernd Osterloh, who heads the company’s powerful works council, says a poll of more than 51,000 workers suggests otherwise, Reuters reports.

Hourly workers blame inaction and poor internal communication by management. But human resources chief Karlheinz Blessing, who is leading the effort to dismantle VW’s legendary bureaucracy, says improvements will take time. He also emphasizes that the process will require all stakeholders to contribute.

Blessing concedes that progress has been held up by “surprising” negative headlines, Reuters notes. The reference is to recent raids on Audi by prosecutors who continue to probe the diesel scandal, and to revelations about VW-backed research that exposed monkeys and humans to diesel fumes in a clumsy bid to prove the safety of diesels.

“We can only apologize to staff for what they have to put up with,” Blessing says.