Volkswagen and its workers' union IG Metall have agreed a new collective agreement on pay and conditions.
Base pay for employees will increase 4.3% on 1 May, 2018 and workers also will receive a one-off payment of EUR100 for February to April 2018.
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An additional annual payment of 27.5% of a month's salary from August 2019, which may be converted into six days of leave by special groups of employees, has also been introduced. From July 2019, a monthly payment of EUR90 will be made to the company pension scheme; from January 2020, EUR98. Project working time arrangements also will be changed. The collective agreement lasts 27 months.
HR chief Karlheinz Blessing said: "Our pay agreement is effectively at the same level as that reached in the metal industry. This was an important objective for us in order to safeguard competitiveness. At the same time, we [are now] significantly more attractive as an employer. The additional annual payment under the collective bargaining agreement gives employees the possibility of opting for additional remuneration or leisure time in line with their requirements. In addition, we have significantly improved the company pension scheme. Each of our employees covered by the collective agreement will notice the effect on his or her pension. This improvement will benefit younger employees more as a result of the longer contribution and interest accumulation period."
To provide greater flexibility, it will be possible to agree on individual, voluntary increases in project working time up to 40 hours per week for 5% of the employees covered by the collective agreement. This may be increased temporarily to 10% by agreement between the parties.
VW will take on 1,400 apprentices over three years.
The deal applies to 120,000 employees at Wolfsburg, Brunswick, Hanover, Salzgitter, Emden and Kassel plants plus the financial services unit.
