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VW, union agree to increase work week
This is an eye opener.Representatives from Volkswagen AG and Germany's biggest industrial union said Friday they had agreed to increase working hours at plants in western Germany by more than four hours a week to 33 hours without any increase in pay. 29 hour work weeks!!! When younger, many of us regularly put in work days longer than that. The agreement between VW and the IG Metall union fell short of the 35-hour week sought by the carmaker as part of efforts to drastically cut production costs for its vehicles such as its flagship Golf, which are selling strongly but bringing in little profit. Volkswagen had sought to extend the work week from the current 28.8 hours. Under the current deal, workers must increase their workweek only to 33 hours for no additional pay, and the company must start paying overtime for hours beyond that. Cripes! Even under the "tough" new work rules, I've worked an entire German week and more in one sitting. Where the heck was my overtime and the rest of the 5 1/2 days off? IG Metall was further backed by a wage agreement with Volkswagen struck in 2004 that saw the company promise no forced layoffs or cutbacks through 2011. I assume no cutbacks in the 6 week vacations. Posted by: ed 2006-09-29 |
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