Volkswagen : 2018 pay negotiations at Volkswagen continued

The negotiating committees of Volkswagen AG and the IG Metall trade union have today continued their pay negotiations in Hanover. 'At today's meeting, we submitted our proposals for a pay agreement to IG Metall. Our offer includes a pay increase in two stages starting with 3.5 percent from May 2018 and followed by a second stage of 2.0 percent, with a total term of 30 months. In addition, we proposed to IG Metall to significantly increase the company pension scheme,' said Martin Rosik, leader of the Volkswagen committee and Head of Human Resources of the Volkswagen brand, after the meeting.

Rosik emphasized: 'Once again, we have offered to work constructively on a solution together with IG Metall. At the same time, we underscored that Volkswagen needs a reasonable pay agreement. We need to ensure competitiveness and safeguard the future of Volkswagen.'

As an example of enhanced competitiveness, Rosik mentioned improvements in working time flexibility. He said that one tool for working time flexibility would be a quota for individual increases in weekly working time up to 40 hours by agreement with the employees concerned and in return for appropriate remuneration. 'This would give employees an opportunity to earn additional income. At the same time, the company could act more flexibly and make better use of the know-how available in special bottleneck areas.'

As regards company pensions, Rosik said: 'We have offered a clear improvement. The question is not whether but how. Our proposal is very beneficial for our employees and would lead to very attractive pension payments,' Rosik indicated. 'However, we need to pay attention to the company's competitiveness. This is why we proposed to IG Metall that New Year's Eve and Christmas Eve should normally be half-day holidays at Volkswagen in future, in line with the approach in the metal industry, and that the employees should take half a day's leave for each of these two days.'

Volkswagen continues to place considerable importance on well-founded vocational training. Rosik: 'Volkswagen stands for first-class vocational training. In view of digitalization and e-mobility, we want to significantly increase the share of future-oriented vocations. However, the world is now changing so fast that we will review our vocational training if possible at annual intervals to determine whether the quantity and quality of training provided are ideally adapted to the requirements. We want to discuss this topic with the employee representatives.'

Rosik once again emphasized: 'We want to ensure future-oriented employment at Volkswagen. This will call for competitiveness and cost discipline. This is the only way we will be able to invest in the future of Volkswagen.' With its 'Transform 2025+' strategy, Volkswagen is realigning itself for the mobility of the future. Improved competitiveness will be an essential prerequisite for the success of this strategy.

The collective agreement of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft applies to about 120,000 employees at the Wolfsburg, Brunswick, Hanover, Salzgitter, Emden and Kassel plants as well as Volkswagen Financial Services AG. The current pay agreements expire at the end of January.