Scontro Volkswagen-sindacati?

[daimlerchrysler]

Volkswagen sta adottando una linea molto più dura con i sindacati. Lo scontro tra Ig metall e Bernhard sul sito di produzione del suv medio ne è esempio. Articolo di automotive news

Crunch time as VW's Bernhard clashes with union

Volkswagen's Wolfgang Bernhard faces a showdown with unions that could determine if he is worth the 800 million euro rise in the carmaker's shares he triggered with his arrival as head of the VW brand.

A restructuring specialist versed in streamlining companies, the former star manager at the Chrysler group delivered in late August an unusual ultimatum for a company that has long relied on consensus building with its workers.

Either its powerful German works council agrees by Monday to build the new Golf-based SUV at reduced wages, or VW will make it in Portugal, where it would save more than 1,000 euros on each SUV it produces.

With shares in Europe's largest carmaker breaching the 50 euro mark on Thursday for the first time in more than three years, the market is banking on Bernhard sending a broad message to investors -- that he is serious about reining in costs, that he won't pull his punches, that he is the real deal.

"The decision on the Golf SUV is crucial for management credibility on cost-cutting and it could even signal the end of VW's in-house wage agreements," said Patrick Juchemich of Bank Sal. Oppenheim.

The only German carmaker to negotiate wage deals itself for its 103,000 staff at six western German plants, VW pays about 11 percent more than domestic peers -- including Audi, the group's highly-profitable premium unit.

Volkswagen has stepped up the rhetoric, announcing this month it would cut "several thousand" jobs in Germany, even if some 1,000 jobs were secured by building the Golf-based SUV, known as Marrakesh, at its main plant in Wolfsburg, Germany.

An outcome in his favor would underline Bernhard's commitment to achieving a gross earnings improvement of 7 billion euros ($8.6 billion) by 2008 from the VW brand alone, the bulk of which will come from cost cuts.

"It will be an indicator of what Bernhard is capable of doing and how -- whether he will reach a solution in partnership with the works council or whether he'll reach for the crowbar," an auto analyst at WestLB said. "He could do quite a bit of damage if he is too tough. He depends on a good working relationship with the works council."

German engineering trade union IG Metall sharply criticised the ultimatum, which it said had broken an accord reached last year that swapped job guarantees for labor cost concessions.

But whereas regional union boss Hartmut Meine has said Bernhard was "obviously looking for conflict", VW's new works council chairman Bernd Osterloh -- whose reputation is as a hardliner -- found a softer tone that suggested employees were less eager to provoke the VW executive.

"I think we're approaching each other and hope that in the foreseeable future we can come to a sustainable compromise," Osterloh said in a statement on Thursday, adding talks were "tough, but constructive".

A Volkswagen spokeswoman confirmed a decision would be made on Monday, Sept. 26, as planned but would not comment further.

STRONG BARGAINING POSITION

Shareholders' hopes rest on the shoulders of Bernhard, who has been frank about the problems at Volkswagen.

The day his appointment was announced in early October, VW's market value rose nearly 8 percent or 830 million euros. When media reports subsequently surfaced that incoming DaimlerChrysler CEO and ex-Chrysler chief Dieter Zetsche wanted to lure back his former number two, the stock promptly fell.

Christoph Stuermer, analyst at industry forecaster Global Insight, believes VW could be looking at a solution akin to what Porsche did with its Cayenne SUV, which is mainly built in Slovakia with the finishing touches made in Leipzig.

This would reduce the bulk of labor costs while ensuring that at least part of the vehicle is produced domestically.

"Considering that only 1,000 jobs in Wolfsburg are at stake, Volkswagen could very well be planning to manufacture the Marrakesh in Portugal or another low-wage location to cut manufacturing costs, but locate final assembly of the vehicle in Wolfsburg," Stuermer said.

"That would calm the works council and allow VW at the same time to market the SUV as 'Made in Germany'," he continued.

Debt analyst Maria Bissinger of Standard & Poor's warned that VW's unfavorable cost structure will remain a challenge for the medium term, but the tough stance Bernhard is taking has encouraged the market that progress is being made.

"We think the problems are being addressed," she told an auto industry conference this week.

WestLB believes that labor will back down in view of the competitive pressures coming from VW's other low-cost plants such as in Slovakia, where it builds the full-sized Touareg SUV.

"VW's negotiating position is quite strong, and what other choice does the works council have? They know themselves that they are too expensive," the bank's analyst said.