VW works meeting: Bad mood among employees

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For press representatives, working near Volkswagen’s main plant in Wolfsburg on Wednesday morning was like running the gauntlet. A heavily laden camera team was stationed in front of an access tunnel, and journalists with microphones or notepads in hand were waiting to catch VW employees for a statement.

But that’s not so easy. Most people wave you off from afar, and some react irritably to questions about the current mood. “What is it like? Bad!” barks a man with a backpack on his shoulders, walking on, shaking his head. Another factory employee initially comments in more detail, but retracts his statements a few hours later. He fears consequences under labor law.

VW top management irritated with “family” term

There is a great deal of uncertainty among the VW workforce. This can be felt on this hot summer day in Wolfsburg. Europe’s largest car manufacturer had announced that it would further tighten the austerity measures it had taken at its core VW brand in view of the worsening situation. Plant closures in Germany and redundancies are also no longer ruled out. The job security agreed with the works council, which excludes redundancies until 2029, is to be terminated. For the first time in 30 years, there could then be layoffs at VW.

What the employees think of this was also clearly shown at the company meeting on Wednesday. The workforce protested against the savings plans with a chorus of whistles, said works council chairwoman Daniela Cavallo. The company’s management had previously defended its plans in front of more than 16,000 employees – and justified this with the well-being of the “Volkswagen family”, among other things. A choice of words that irritated many employees. After all, as a family, we stick together, especially in times of crisis, said Cavallo. She announced tough resistance and will not accept plant closures, layoffs and wage cuts.

The crisis at Volkswagen is not the fault of the employees, but of the company’s management. “Volkswagen is suffering from the fact that the board is not doing its job,” Cavallo said according to the speech manuscript. The workforce should not be held responsible for this. Instead, she appealed to the board to live up to its responsibility for the VW locations.

“We have given up on an incredibly good technology”

A line that is apparently supported by the vast majority of employees. There was no criticism of Daniela Cavallo outside the factory gates on Wednesday. She was acting credibly and had the full support of the workforce, they said. Instead, the main criticism was of the failures of the company’s top management, led by Oliver Blume and his predecessor Herbert Diess: “Quite a few wrong decisions were made, although of course you always know better in hindsight,” says a long-time employee from the logistics division.

Take electromobility, for example. This was pursued too “one-sidedly”, without at least keeping the possibility of further developing existing technologies open. “I don’t understand the demonization of our diesel engines, which are by far the most efficient,” says the employee. “We have simply given up on an incredibly good technology.”

A sales employee outside the VW plant also cited “misguided product policy” as the cause of the crisis. Everything was put on e-mobility too early, while competitors such as Toyota “kept quiet for the time being”. Volkswagen is now feeling the effects of this, especially in terms of sales. “Unlike the Japanese, we do not have a hybrid small car to offer. And yet that is exactly what people are buying at the moment,” said the employee. This also applies to the range of electric vehicles. The sales employee nevertheless believes that the savings plans of the VW Group management are exaggerated. After all, VW will “still earn billions” this year. The car company is far from being in the red.

The federal government is also getting its fair share of criticism in the talks. The constant back and forth on subsidies has caused lasting damage to the company, complains one factory employee. “First, electromobility is massively promoted, then it is scaled back again, and suddenly everyone is wondering why no electric cars are being bought.”

Behind closed doors, however, some people express some understanding for the savings plans. Hardly anyone wants to imagine factory closures. But financially, the considerations are entirely understandable. “With 10,000 people, we are geared up for more production, but at the moment there are not many new projects in the pipeline. It’s a powder keg,” says an older man in his 60s with grey hair. But he is no longer worried about his job. He has his “house in the bag”.

For many of his colleagues, this does not apply on this day. They must hope that the works council and the company management will now come to the negotiating table quickly.

With material from dpa