"People are afraid": VW works council boss with "poor certificate" announcement to CEO Diess

The mood at VW remains tense.

At a works meeting, works council boss Daniela Cavallo criticized CEO Diess again and made serious accusations.

Wolfsburg - VW * works council boss and supervisory board member Daniela Cavallo continues to distance himself from VW CEO Herbert Diess * and has attacked the manager sharply.

At a works meeting at the Wolfsburg headquarters on Thursday (November 4), according to the speech manuscript, she accused him of playing with the workforce's fears of new job cuts and a lack of concept in the fight against the chip crisis.

VW: Cavallo calls presumptions about job cuts "substantive nonsense"

Cavallo called speculations about the deletion of tens of thousands of jobs at the Volkswagen core brand, which Diess had fueled in the past few weeks, "substantive nonsense".

If the chairman of the board nevertheless publicly fires up the topic again and again, it is "pretty sad", she criticized.

“There isn't one person too many on board here.

You cannot negotiate an additional position with us! "

Everyone at VW knows that the company will have to be fundamentally rebuilt in the course of the transformation of the automotive industry.

But there are already numerous accompanying programs for this - and the employment guarantee until 2029 is basically in place.

"The only thing our employees have been able to hear from you in the past few weeks were frivolous speculations * about job cuts," said Cavallo.

VW: CEO Diess' statements cause fear among employees

This is obviously not clear what that does with the motivation of the colleagues: “With the stroke of a pen, as if it were nothing, just put a number of 30,000 in the room. And it takes almost 48 hours to finally comment on it - and then to say: Oh, everything wasn't meant that way! ”This also unsettles the employees - many of them have been on short-time work since the beginning of the Corona crisis. People are "afraid for their work, their families, their existence."

While Diess deals with PR campaigns * or poses with Tesla boss Elon Musk as a major competitor, the management of supply bottlenecks in-house also leaves much to be desired, Cavallo grumbled: “What we see in semiconductors is an indictment.

(...) You regularly provide us with nice photos of your excursions, but unfortunately still not with semiconductors. "

It is also not true when it is suggested that VW is less productive in Wolfsburg compared to Tesla * - “a lot more vehicles” are built per capita at the main plant.

"The truth is: it is not the factory or the employees that are inefficient," says Cavallo.

"We simply lack the parts with which we can build our cars."

VW boss Diess: "The next Golf must not be a Tesla"

Regarding Cavallo's allegations, Diess admitted in his address: “We have to talk to each other.” However, regarding Volkswagen's future prospects, especially in Lower Saxony, he also made it clear: “Herbert Diess or Daniela Cavallo will not decide.

The customers decide. " 

In his speech, the CEO emphasized that the headquarters in Wolfsburg should be the engine for the corporate restructuring.

"Wolfsburg in particular is important for the group and has to be the spearhead," said Diess according to his speech.

However, he also pointed out that the competition must be closely monitored: “The next Golf must not be a Tesla!

The next Golf must not come from China! "

Nonetheless, he also addressed the issue of downsizing.

However, he did not take up the drastic number of up to 30,000, which he had recently brought into play to the irritation of many employees.

"I want your children and grandchildren to still have a secure job here with us in Wolfsburg in 2030," he said.

But: "The jobs that exist today will certainly be fewer within the next 10 to 15 years - especially in administration at group level, but also in production and development." At the same time, new and different work is being added.

Clear announcement against competitor Tesla

“Only together can we make Volkswagen future-proof,” said Diess.

To do this, you have to move the group "in good time to change course".

With a view to competitor Tesla, which is about to start its new plant in Grünheide near Berlin, this means: "We must not let Tesla destroy our location, our corporate headquarters!"

From Diess' point of view, the VW headquarters has a good chance of "becoming a flagship for auto production again".

But for this to happen, the Trinity project has to be a success.

Overall, much less traditional labor is required for e-cars, which requires a lot of new skills.

Diess: "We are planning faster production

and more efficient forms of cooperation."