laserjock said:
I personally found this to be the most interesting part of the article..
"He insisted the decision had nothing to do with a standoff with labour over VW's plans to extend the work week for staff in western Germany to 35 hours from 28.8 at no extra pay, an idea labour leaders have rejected."
WTF? 28.8 hour work weeks??? wicked crazy!
That's the main reason VW are the poorest performing arm of the VW empire. Audi can afford to build their cars in Germany because the profit margins on luxury cars are obviously much higher.
Unfortunately, the MkV Golf for example, is taking many man-hours to produce, and also has to be sold at a much cheaper price point than an Audi, so less margin between production cost and purchase price. That's why the MkVI is being brought forward, to make the Golf easier and faster to produce, so more can be churned out for the same cost as the MkV.
It's a shame that the labour unions refuse to negotiate over working hours. I work a 40hr week as a public servant, so working only 28.8hr weeks must be like being on holiday. Here's hoping they realise that such a move is necessary to ensure VW remains competitive and viable or at least 30,000 VW workers in Germany will find themselves with 28.8hrs per week extra to spend with their families. If I were a VW worker, I'd be more inclined to have a 35hr/week job with the decent pay they're already getting than be out on my arse with no job along with 30,000 other guys vying for only a handful of jobs.
If they refuse to compromise, they only need to look to the U.S auto industry problems, especially with GM, as an indicator of where the German market could end up. I'm very pro-employee. I'm all for unions protecting employees and getting a good deal for workers, but not when it's at such a huge detriment to the company.