On October 27th, Reuters reported that as a result of criticism from Daniela Cavallo, chairperson of the Volkswagen Employee Council, CEO Herbert Diess had to cancel his trip to meet with investors in the United States, and is instead scheduled to attend an employee meeting on November 4th in Wolfsburg. Cavallo accused Diess of favoring Wall Street investors over employees and lacking empathy for them. However, on October 28th, Diess stated that he will follow in Tesla’s footsteps, which will inevitably involve layoffs, once again expressing his unwavering position on layoffs.
The struggle between Diess or the entire Volkswagen Group’s executives and the Employee Council has been ongoing. During Bernd Osterloh’s tenure as the Chairperson of the Employee Council, conflicts between senior Volkswagen executives and the council were constant, to the point where Diess posted an apology message on the official website on June 9th. A few days ago, Diess and Osterloh had a heated argument over the progress and coverage of the cost reduction plan.
With the mediation of the Porsche and Piëch families, Diess was able to remain the CEO of the Volkswagen Group but lost his position as CEO of the Volkswagen brand. Until Cavallo became the new Chairperson of the Employee Council, but as Osterloh’s deputy, her priority still lay in protecting worker interests over everything else.
On Thursday, Diess once again expressed his strong intention to lay off employees, which makes me more curious about what agreement he will reach with the union at next Thursday’s meeting.
🔗Source: Reuters
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.