BRATISLAVA-based carmaker Volkswagen (VW) is allegedly planning to cut the salaries of its employees by 4 percent.
The company has already submitted the proposal to trade unionists, explaining that it wants to reduce employee work hours so that it can invest in modernising and improving the effectiveness of its production lines, the Hospodárske Noviny daily wrote in its January 21 issue.
The salary cuts will be the first to occur in the Bratislava-based plant since its establishment.
“We ask you to assess the economic situation in the automotive sector and its impact on Volkswagen’s management in the future when the jobs are threatened,” reads the material submitted to the trade unions, as quoted by Hospodárske Noviny.
Spokesperson for VW Slovakia Vladimír Machalík said that collective negotiations over the salaries are still underway, and that he will discuss their results as soon as they are over.
The company is allegedly planning to reduce the work hours of its employees from eight to six hours, Zoroslav Smolinský, head of the VW trade unions, told Hospodárske Noviny. He explained that the main reason is not due to a lack of orders, but so that the firm can improve its production lines and abolish Sunday shifts. He added that VW is not planning any layoffs.
Source: Hospodárske Noviny
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
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