The four German states with a presence of Volkswagen want to work together to ensure that the automaker does not close any of your factoriesstated the ministries of Economy of the States in a joint document seen by Reuters this Monday (14).
The main objective is to fully preserve all facilities, the ministries of Lower Saxony, Saxony, Hesse and Berlin said.
“This means that individual locations will not be pitted against each other,” they stated in the document dated October 10. “The economic departments of the federal states will act in solidarity and in close coordination with each other”, says the text.
They also rejected drastic cuts to the detriment of staff and said a new long-term contract for job security must ensure the protection of positions and the retention of expertise.
Tensions at the automaker are high, as the possibility of factory closures — in what would be the company’s first in Germany — has brought it into conflict with the powerful union IG Metal.
IG Metall also needs to negotiate new labor agreements for the 130,000 workers at VW’s flagship brand in Germany, after the group last month ended agreements that had guaranteed jobs at six of its plants in western Germany since the mid-1990s. .
