Production outlook is not optimistic, VWAGY.US and union negotiations are "terrible"

The chairman of the Volkswagen works council said in an internal interview on Thursday that negotiations with the carmaker over planned cuts at its German factories were “terrible from the start” and would continue to be “serious, crucial and controversial”.

The council said, “We have not yet entered a pattern that can be called negotiations. First and foremost are the numbers, data and facts, and finding a consensus on the problems.”

Since early October, management has held weekly meetings with workers’ representatives at the German factories to present facts and data on where further job cuts can be made and which models will be produced at which factories.

One union spokesman said negotiations on pay would be separate and the next formal round would be on October 30.

Despite this, the union said the three issues — cost-cutting, production plans and pay — had to be discussed as a whole and they would not compromise on any one issue until solutions were found in all areas.

IG Metall, Germany’s largest union, also has to negotiate new contracts for the 130,000 VW core-brand workers in Germany, after the group terminated an agreement that guaranteed jobs at six factories in western Germany since the mid-1990s.

Mr Mahnkopf, vice-chairman of the works council, said the union would “paralyse” the company if it went ahead with factory closures against the union’s wishes, and threatened “massive resistance in all areas and on all levels”.

Tensions are rising at VW as the threat of factory closures pits the company against its workers’ representatives, who sit on half of the supervisory board and can influence strategic decisions.