Thursday, November 4th, 2021
No commitments for the main plant
Diess: I’m worried about Wolfsburg
Volkswagen’s works council calls for another electric car model for the Wolfsburg plant. CEO Diess does not give the green light for this at the works meeting. Instead, he refers to the imminent downsizing. The works council boss counters and accuses Diess of complicity in the lack of chips.
In the dispute over the capacity utilization of the VW main plant in Wolfsburg, CEO Herbert Diess swore the employees to tough competition, especially with Tesla – but did not give the required assurance that another electric car would be built. At the works meeting with thousands of employees, Diess only said, “We are currently discussing this”. Works council chief Daniela Cavallo assured support for a “courageous course” in the restructuring of the group.
There had been anger about Diess’ participation in the works meeting – the CEO canceled an “important trip that had been planned for a long time” to the USA “to be here with you today”. Diess had also unsettled the workforce with speculation about a possible huge job cuts in Germany. At the works meeting he now appealed to the “common ground” with the aim of making VW future-proof. Diess implored the workforce that the company had to “hold on with all its might”.
The US electrical manufacturer Tesla wants to build half a million cars with 7,000 people in Brandenburg, “and with impressive productivity”: Tesla needs ten working hours per car – at the VW plant in Zwickau it is over 30 hours. “We should do 20 hours next year,” urged Diess.
Works council boss: Not one person too many
“Yes, I’m worried about Wolfsburg,” said the CEO. The jobs that exist today would certainly be fewer within the next ten to 15 years – also in production and development. But there would also be new and different jobs. In mid-October, alleged statements by Diess caused a stir that up to 30,000 jobs in Germany could be cut due to the switch to electric vehicles. The company then stated that a reduction on this scale was “not an issue”.
The chairwoman of the general and group works council, Daniela Cavallo, emphasized in her speech at the works meeting: “There is not one too many people on board here.” Diess could not additionally “negotiate with us”. Cavallo criticized the fact that Diess’ group management did not succeed in ensuring the supply of semiconductors and utilization of the Wolfsburg plant, in which production had to be cut back significantly due to the lack of chips. Diess said that the displeasure was “completely appropriate”. Unfortunately, he could not give the all-clear. “The shortage of chips will be with us next year as well.” VW won’t be able to build every car.
Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil emphasized that Wolfsburg must remain the heart of Lower Saxony’s industry. The company’s task in these “very, very demanding times” is not to stir up worries, but to provide perspectives. The Social Democrat warned that “the uncertainty must come to an end”. This is the very clear expectation of the state for the next planning round at VW on December 9th. There must be “clear prospects” by the end of the year.