The power struggle in Wolfsburg lasted only a few hours. But it was led with great rigor – and now there is a winner, or rather a winner: Daniela Cavallo, 46 years old, head of the Volkswagen Group’s works council. Herbert Diess, the CEO, is defeated.
“Dear employees,” he wrote on Wednesday evening shortly before 7 p.m. on the VW intranet, “the dialogue with you is very important to me because we have huge tasks ahead of us.” In order to be able to physically attend the works meeting, “I am postponing the important trip to our core market, the USA”, you can read there.
It is the next chapter – or should one say: Round – a matter that can only happen at Volkswagen, the largest industrial group in Europe, which is also the most reliable source of drama. The employee side, led by Cavallo, had scheduled a works meeting for November 4th, the first after almost two years of Corona pause. There is also a lot to talk about. At Volkswagen, as with most other manufacturers, important ingredients are missing during these months without which cars cannot be built: computer chips. The shortage, also triggered by incorrect assessments in the VW management, repeatedly leads to production stoppages.
Regardless of this, Diess and his colleagues such as brand boss Ralf Brandstätter are currently increasing the pressure on the workforce again: Efficiency must increase, especially at the headquarters, otherwise you will fall behind, especially compared to the main competitor Tesla. Cars would be manufactured there in under 15 hours, at VW it sometimes takes twice as long. Diess has also issued a tough number in the past few days: 30,000 jobs are at risk if a lot is not changed as quickly as possible.
In short: the unrest is enormous. There is talk.
But without the boss personally, it seemed in the past few days. He could not attend the staff meeting, unfortunately the deadline for this had reached him too soon. On the same day there is an investor conference in the USA. Sorry
“This behavior is unprecedented in the history of our group”
That alone was an affront in the eyes of the employee representatives, because in every company the management has to appear at works meetings. And especially at Volkswagen. The employee representatives in Wolfsburg are extremely powerful by law – and without their involvement, Diess can immediately forget any kind of change request.
But then Diess ‘people came up with something that can be read as a concession to the workforce – or as a final provocation: On this Thursday evening, the employers’ side invited to their own discussion. “Under the motto ‘Employees ask, Herbert Diess answers'”, 200 employees could talk to the top boss for an hour, was suddenly read on the VW intranet on Tuesday.
Works council chief Daniela Cavallo: “In these times Herbert Diess refuses to answer the assembled workforce.”
(Photo: Swen Pförtner / dpa)
Since the so far moderately appearing Cavallo the patience was broken, it is said from the workers’ camp. They held back for half a year and switched to moderation so that VW could work in peace. But now is the end. And how.
The head of the works council had an open letter circulated on Tuesday evening that was a frontal attack. Apparently a lot had built up in the past few months. “While the CEO with his surfing on the Mittelland Canal, the bicycle demonstrations in front of the factory gate or the leisurely hiking tours with his colleagues on the board creates the impression that everything is going well, the colleagues have been stuck in short-time work almost consistently for months,” began the IG- Metal unionist. This is a “dramatic situation that has never been seen before”.
It was the tone of their always robust predecessor Bernd Osterloh: “Herbert Diess prefers investors on Wall Street to his own workforce – this behavior is unprecedented in the history of our group and shows once again that the CEO has no empathy even in this crisis still has a feel for the situation of the workforce, “she continued.
Some very powerful people in Wolfsburg don’t want to admit any more mistakes to Diess
The sharpness of the words may also be due to the circumstances. In the coming year there are works council elections and in a few days there will also be the “planning round” – the annual supervisory board meeting at which decisions are made on investments in the billions and the occupancy of plants around the world. So about jobs. But Cavallo was simply outraged by the boorish behavior on the part of the employer, so it can be heard.
The fact that the head of the group is putting a dialogue event “according to his own script” into the calendar instead of appearing at the works meeting “shows us that Dr. Diess continues to have no interest in constructive cooperation.” Furthermore – this is a reference to that the notorious provocateur Diess always offends quite a few – to an extent that has brought him to the verge of expulsion several times. In this respect, Cavallo’s letter was to be understood as a final warning.
The meetings of the VW presidium and the supervisory board on this Wednesday should have passed Cavallo – there are definitely powerful people in Wolfsburg who do not want to admit another big mistake to Herbert Diess, no matter how successful he works on the bottom line. In any case, he gave in on Wednesday evening: He comes to the meeting, his own dialogue event has been canceled – as has the trip to the USA.