The Volkswagen plant in Brussels, with a workforce of 5,630, is not threatened with shutdown by the German group, but like other group sites it will have to submit to a cost-cutting plan. A new collective agreement is currently being negotiated.
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The Volkswagen plant in Brussels, with a workforce of 5,630, is not threatened with shutdown by the German group, but like other group sites it will have to submit to a cost-cutting plan. A new collective agreement is currently being negotiated.
Facing serious difficulties, the German automotive group Volkswagen decided in the end not to shut down any plants in Europe, including its Belgian site in Forest (Brussels region), due to the costs such a decision would entail. According to an internal document quoted recently by the economic daily Financial Times Deutschland, such a measure would be 'economically absurd'. (For details about previous social conflicts in the company, see BE9905176F, BE9808241N, BE9808152F, BE9709116N).
At the start of July, the German press had speculated on the possibility of a shutdown of the Forest site, considered one of Europe's least productive. In early September, however, a spokesman for the German manufacturer in Belgium guaranteed that the Brussels site -which employs 5,630- would not be affected by the thousands of job losses announced by the Wolfsburg-based group. The Brussels management nevertheless reiterated its determination to make the plant more competitive, in particular through cuts to personnel costs to be set out in a new collective agreement.
Management and unions held a number of meetings to try to put together the new agreement. The unions were quick to express their opposition to a wage freeze. 'That would be an unacceptable precedent', they announced. In an initial reaction, the management of Volkswagen Brussels stated: 'The unions' decision to reject management's proposal to freeze payroll costs could be a serious threat to the site's future. Talks were proceeding in a constructive climate when the unions announced their refusal to pursue negotiation of the payroll freeze. They therefore reject all the financial compensations proposed by management to cancel the effect of the 4.3% wage increase foreseen by the sectoral agreement. This decision is all the more regrettable since it runs counter to the agreements sealed a few months ago by German unions', regretted VW Brussels. After yet another consultation in mid-September, however, management seemed to have accepted the unions' point of view on the wage freeze issue. According to the unions, recovery of this wage increase over 2005 and 2006 represents a total of EUR 11 million.
No agreement had been reached at the end of September.
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Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2005), VW aims to cut costs in Belgium, article.
