VW’s Labor Leader Threatens to Block Investments
Bernd Osterloh, Volkswagen AG’s works council chief, tells Reuters that labor representatives who control half the seats on the company’s supervisory board will block future investments unless VW commits to saving jobs in Germany.
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Bernd Osterloh, Volkswagen AG’s works council chief, tells Reuters that labor representatives who control half the seats on the company’s supervisory board will block future investments unless VW commits to saving jobs in Germany.
VW’s supervisor board is scheduled to approve its annual investment plan in mid-November.
The company is trying to orchestrate big cost-cutting moves while refocusing on such innovations as electrified powertrains and driverless cars. VW brand CEO Herbert Diess said last week the company must reduce its workforce, promising to do so without layoffs.
Osterloh says workers would accept a plan to shed about 2,500 jobs per year through attrition. But he reiterates labor’s vow not to support VW’s “Future Pact” effort to make the company more competitive unless management provides a clear perspective on “which cars are to be produced at which factory with which volume.”
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