F&I Management & Training

Workers at Volkswagen have lost their legal battle to stop Porsche establishing a European holding company in a move that sets the scene for the next big struggle at Europe's largest carmaker. The battle lines have already been drawn between Volkswagen's workers, who historically have been the highest paid and last productive in the automotive industry while working the fewest hours - and Porsche, which is the largest shareholder in the volume carmaker with a 31% stake. Porsche appears keen to curb the power of the IG Metall, the main shopfloor union at Volkswagen, if, as widely anticipated it seeks to take full control of the company. Porsche wants parity between its own workers and Volkswagen's on the supervisory board of the holding company. However, Volkswagen workers launched the lawsuit because with 324,000 employees compared to Porsche's 12,000 they believe they should have more power.

DATED: 26.10.07

FEED: AW