Audi Threatening Workers With Wage Cuts

The management of German luxury car manufacturer Audi is threatening significant wage cuts for workers, the IG Metall union warned on Friday in a leaflet distributed to members.

The union warned of a “relentless list of horrors of austerity, relocation, and cuts” at the carmaker, which is a subsidiary of German car giant Volkswagen.

Among other things, the postponement of salary increases, the elimination of bonuses, and the reduction of profit sharing are mentioned.

Sources told the DPA agency that it was “likely” that the cuts at Audi could amount to about a month’s salary for workers.

Audi management did not comment on the figures but confirmed that there had been tentative talks with the works council about cost-cutting measures.

The company’s existing labor agreement stipulates that management will open new negotiations “if the business environment deteriorates,” and the company says that is now the case.

Audi’s works council also confirmed “exploratory talks” but did not provide specific figures, although the chairman of the workers’ group, Jörg Schlagbauer, criticized the “brutal cost-cutting measures” recently demanded by Audi management.

The IG Metall union, which represents the majority of Audi’s workforce, said concrete negotiations had not yet begun.

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