IG Metall boss Jörg Hofmann has proposed the introduction of the four-day week to secure jobs. But of all people, the powerful VW works council boss is against it.
- IG Metall boss Jörg Hofmann has spoken out in favor of introducing the four-day week.
- The trade unionist wants to save jobs in the corona pandemic.
- The powerful VW works council boss Bernd Osterloh rejects this for the car manufacturer.
Munich / Wolfsburg - VW -Betriebsratschef Bernd Osterloh rejects the introduction of a four-day week for the Wolfsburg carmaker from. At VW , the "situation is such that we don't need a four-day week," said Osterloh on the VW intranet.
The "capacity utilization of production in the second half of the year" ensures employment, writes Osterloh in a statement on the in-house website Volkswagen-net, which Merkur.de has available. In addition, VW had already described in 2016 "in the future pact and in the digital transformation roadmap" how to adapt the workforce, "namely through partial retirement up to the year 1967". This means that VW has "the right answers to the challenges in the automotive industry," said Osterloh.
. @ IGMetall boss Jörg #Hofmann suggests the introduction of the 4-day week as an answer to the #Strukturwandel. The #SPD should stand up for this, says our author. https://t.co/4SdHXSd7da
- vorwärts Verlag (@vorwaerts) August 16, 2020Osterloh's word carries weight.The long-standing chairman of the general and group works council of Volkswagen also sits on the executive committee of the Volkswagen supervisory board. He is also a member of the IG Metall board . VW is one of the most important bastions of IG Metall. The proportion of union members is traditionally particularly high in Wolfsburg .
Just a week ago, IG Metall boss Jörg Hofmann had spoken out in favor of introducing the four-day week. Such a step "would be the answer to structural change in sectors such as the auto industry," Hofmann said in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung . This means that "industrial jobs can be held instead of being written off". At the same time, Hofmann pleaded for a "certain wage compensation for the employees so that the employees can afford it".
With a view to the demands of the IG Metall boss, Osterloh said that the “four-day week” at VW in 1993 had secured around 30,000 jobs in the group's “worst crisis to date”. The model is a "huge success". He therefore "expressly" supports the proposal. However, he sees the initiative as a model for “individual companies with employment problems”.
VW: Catching up in the second half of the year
The Volkswagen group slipped deep into the red in the first half of * due to the corona pandemic at its core brand VW . From January to June, the operating minus adjusted for special factors was 1.5 billion euros. In the same period of the previous year VW had reported an operating profit of 2.3 billion euros. For the year as a whole, however, the CFO responsible for VW , Alexander Seitz, expects a “positive operating result”.
In the second half of the year, the “model offensive will lose its full power”, Seitz said when the VW figures were presented at the end of July. In addition to the market launch of the fully electric ID.3 , the Golf 8 should finally pick up speed. The start of the most important corporate model was overshadowed by software problems. VW also had to struggle with massive software problems with the ID.3 .
