H/T to Melinda, “I think this is a really big deal. If you read between the lines, a tipping point of union power vs ongoing Corporate viability has been passed, and he’s doing something about it. Come hell or high water.”
Volkswagen boss Oliver Blume, already battling slowing demand for electric cars and Chinese rivals, must now put aside his mantle as team player to tackle yet another tough opponent, Germany’s powerful labour unions.
The pressure on Europe’s top carmaker was laid bare this week when Volkswagen disclosed it was not only planning to scrap a 30-year old job security scheme but weighing the closure of plants in Germany.
Moritz Kronenberger, portfolio manager at Volkswagen shareholder Union Investment, dubs these the company’s “two holy cows”.
By taking them on, Blume sets a collision course with one of Germany’s mightiest stakeholder groups, the IG Metall union, whose main goal is to protect jobs and sites and safeguard the favourable working conditions in Europe’s biggest economy.
VW works council head Daniela Cavallo said unions would “fiercely resist” the plans, ruling out any factory closures on her watch. She said a staff meeting on Wednesday, where management will face workers, would be “very uncomfortable”.
Volkswagen has not closed a plant since 1988 when it shut its Westmoreland site in Pennsylvania. In July it said it might close an Audi factory in Brussels citing a sharp drop in demand for high-end electric cars.
This makes zero sense. More EV’s when they hardly keep the power on.
When political fantasy meets economic reality.
is that ‘holy cow’ as in wtf?????
or ‘holy cow’ as in ‘sacred cow’?
maybe both eh?!!
Hahahahaha!
Unions destroyed the Scottish shipbuilding industry.
Looks like the German car industry might be next.
Unions supporting far left governments that enact policies and laws guaranteed to cost union jobs. I’d say who cares, but for the spill over effect on those of us with brains.
Yup. It’s all part of The Great Commie Plan. Create the ideal conditions for a revolution so they can grab power.
Unions eventually destroy all jobs of their members in the private sector (along with related jobs of others) and they accelerate the decline of failing business models. In the public sector they work at destroying all jobs except their own that grow until financial collapse.
Unions are collectives …. collectives usually wind up destroying themselves … it’s just another form of communism. Their power is from the money they extort from their members ,… it’s just another form of taxation with a bit too much representation.
See how that is?
how will this affect the empty hairs battery plant in canaduh?
No real change, they’ll still cost Canadian taxpayers much more than the government says, create fewer jobs than the government says, and build fewer batteries but still in excess of any real demand from the market.
If nobody can afford EV’s … then nobody can afford the UNIONISTAS.
There’s only ONE solution. A government bailout and de facto Nationalization of the automaker. It “worked” for GM … and all the UNIONISTAS gold plated pensions were preserved. So … the taxpayers MUST pay for everyone’s EV … and every UNIONISTA pension.
Communism!! It works in China!! (sic)
Don’t blame the unions for this.
In the 90s unions agreed to lower wages in return for job security
[which in fact meant reducing hours rather than layoffs so workers could be retained and ready]
The result was enormous trade surpluses which went to shareholders.
VW Management, however, failed to get up to speed on electric vehicles, [or even emissions reduction]
and are now looking at competition from China [and at home; BMW is now selling more EV’s than Tesla in Europe]
And then there was Dieselgate [the CEO’s trial is just now starting: the press won’t be nice]
And part of the reason they need to “economize”: they need to cut 4 more billions
“to fund critical international projects, including a potential $5 billion investment in U.S. EV maker Rivian
and a partnership with China’s Xpeng” [from the article]
Your sobriquet is indeed quite appropriate.
The unionists voted for the stupid left wing policies. No sympathy.