Reorganisation at Volkswagen Forest threatens jobs

In February 1999, management at the Volkswagen Forest plant in Belgium started negotiating a plan with the trade unions to reorganise the factory. However, the atmosphere is strained, as it seems that some 1,300 jobs are under threat - not only the 1,000 "temporary workers" but also 300 workers on fixed-term contracts.

At the beginning of February 1999, the Volkswagen motor manufacturing group announced a thorough reorganisation of its Forest plant in Belgium, which received "bad marks" for productivity from the parent company in Wolfsburg, Germany, on the basis of an internal group comparison. Productivity is said to be 20% too low, compared with the other plants. A new shift system is meant to remedy this problem. Management is proposing that workers should work six days out of seven for three successive weeks in alternating shifts, with the fourth week being free. However, this proposed new shift system was received far from enthusiastically. Until now many of the workers have had no experience of working at nights or on Saturdays. Many of them are worried about the effects on their social life.

Volkswagen Forest is well known for its turbulent industrial relations. In 1998, for example, an unofficial strike broke out following a dispute over a company doctor who had allegedly allowed a female worker who had become sick back to work without a thorough examination (BE9806239N).

The news of the reorganisation was not entirely unexpected. As early as the end of 1998, when the personnel director retired, the announcement came that "difficult decisions would have to be taken shortly". Reaction to the news of the reorganisation was fairly calm and negotiations got underway immediately, though this does not mean that the trade unions are necessarily in agreement with the management proposals or with the analysis. According to them, it is not productivity but poor work organisation with respect to the operation of the robots in the bodywork plant that is the root cause of the problem. Meanwhile, the Belgian General Federation of Labour (Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique/Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond, FGTB/ABVV) has presented an alternative to the management's shiftwork proposal, which would involve working alternately four and five days a week, whilst the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (Confédération des Syndicats Chrétiens/ Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond, CSC/ACV) wants an additional shift in the assembly department.

It has become apparent that some 1,300 jobs are under threat at Forest. The prospect that 1,000 temporary jobs will have to go seems certain and is not really being discussed. Furthermore, 300 additional fixed-term jobs are also at risk, though this seems to be the "worst-case" scenario.

Amongst the 1,000 temporary staff taken on recently at Forest to catch up with production backlogs (BE9808152F) there are 300 former Renault workers. For them, history may be repeating itself (BE9703202F).