Volkswagen workers have a role to play in protecting the climate, and realistic goals in this respect will encourage innovation and thus guarantee jobs, said VW works council chief Bernd Osterloh, speaking at a VW works council conference on CO2 in Wolfsburg this week.
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German environment minister, Sigmar Gabriel, was the keynote speaker at the conference, and he reassured workers that European Union (EU) proposals to limit CO2 emissions from cars would not necessarily result in job losses.
One of the criticisms of proposed EU legislation from German manufactures is that it will make them uncompetitive and that this could result in job losses. Osterloh invited representatives of the EU Commission to engage with VW workers saying that they have enormous technical knowledge, which is being already applied to addressing climate issues.
He added that workers are ready to apply themselves further to addressing this important issue. “On the other hand we expect fair regulations for all manufacturers and want to at least be heard when proposed legislation affects workers,” he said.
Osterloh said that Gabriel was a good example for the EU Commission to follow, because he contacted worker representatives early on the process to discuss opportunities and risks presented by CO2 legislation.
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By GlobalData“These weren’t easy talks for us, but Gabriel has secured the acceptance and full support of tens of thousands of workers for his environmental goals,” he said.
Volkswagen’s human resources director, Horst Neumann, said: “We at the Volkswagen company are concerned by current government policies of different European countries and the European Commission. Europe has the toughest safety and environmental standards in the world – now some countries are introducing CO2 based vehicle taxes that vary from one country to the next and unsettle customers.”
Neumann added that different taxation systems are not consistent with the aims of a European common market. He said that the EU Commission had promised to cooperate with vehicle manufacturers on environmental measures and work within the framework of technical feasibility.
“The promise of a dialogue must be realised,” he said.
Neumann said that the automotive industry is the most important private investor in innovation with an annual R&D spend of EUR20bn. 84,000 people are employed in automotive R&D in Germany alone. EUR77bn invested in automotive R&D in Germany is equivalent to almost 30% of total German R&D expenditure.
Gabriel said that the burden of responsibility for CO2 emissions reduction from cars must be spread fairly. He said that he has talked to colleagues in France and that they have agreed to develop a joint proposal.
Current proposals call for average CO2 per new car sold to be 120g/km by 2012, with 10g/km of this coming from use of biofuels and other measures that are not specifically related to vehicle technology. This means that new car emissions effectively have to reach 130g/km on average, down from around 160g/km at present.
Manufacturers who exceed this target will be fined.
