UPDATE: VW Labor Chief Says Near Deal On Staff Shareholding
May 24 2012 - 9:36AM
Dow Jones News
Volkswagen AG's (VOW.XE) top labor representative and deputy
supervisory board chairman said Thursday he expects an agreement on
staff becoming shareholders to be reached soon in a move that would
widen ownership of the tightly-held German automotive group.
"Talks are progressing well... we're close to an agreement,"
Bernd Osterloh told reporters. He declined to elaborate as a final
decision hasn't been reached.
Osterloh told Dow Jones Newswires in June 2011 that Volkswagen's
labor unions want to take a voting stake of up to 3% in the company
to safeguard workers' rights.
A 3% voting stake would make Volkswagen employees the company's
fourth-largest shareholder after Porsche Automobil Holding SE
(PAH3.XE) with a 50.7% stake, the German state of Lower Saxony with
just above 20% and Qatar Holding LLC with 17%.
The deal would be based on a plan drafted in August 2009 after
Volkswagen's labor unions in a joint effort with the company's
management successfully averted a takeover launched by Porsche's
former chief executive, Wendelin Wiedeking, and former chief
financial officer, Holger Haerter.
In August 2009, Volkswagen's supervisory board rubber-stamped a
plan to forge a combined company with Porsche after the
Stuttgart-based sports car maker's attempt to gain control of its
much-larger peer backfired when credit markets dried up.
Volkswagen's board stated at the time that it would be willing "to
offer a substantial investment opportunity to the world-wide
employees."
The plan to take a substantial stake in the company reflects
growing confidence among labor unions, which traditionally have had
a strong influence at Volkswagen, as the Wolfsburg-based company is
on track for a new vehicle sales record in 2012, driven by demand
in emerging markets.
Osterloh said he would support the United Auto Workers union in
its bid to represent workers at Volkswagen's new U.S. plant in
Chattanooga, Tenn., but added that it is up to the company's work
force in the U.S. to decide this.
"We'll make sure that the UAW gets a chance," he said.
Volkswagen's staff at the Chattanooga plant would have to vote on
the UAW representing workers there in the future.
Osterloh confirmed that the collective bargaining agreement
reached last week by Germany's largest labor union IG Metall for
more than three million workers could be the basis for a deal for
Volkswagen's own staff. But he wants to achieve some additional
benefits at VW, for example related to transferring certain
temporary workers on permanent contracts faster.
Last week, the powerful IG Metall union agreed with employers to
raise wages in Germany's engineering sector by 4.3% percent over 13
months.
Osterloh said he would support a settlement of 4.3% over 12
months for VW's German workforce. The deal would affect around
100,000 staff at six plants in Germany.
Osterloh and other VW labor representatives will continue
negotiations with the company next Wednesday.
-By Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 512;
christoph.rauwald@dowjones.com; Twitter: @Rauwald
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