Volkswagen (VW)
Collective Agreement settled for a Subsidiary Company (“Auto 5000” - “Car 5000”)
(Region of Lower Saxony)

1.
Since August 2001 exists a newly founded VW-Company “Auto 5000” - “Car 5000” with a workforce of 3800 employees. The specific feature was: - all employees were formerly unemployed, - all received an uniform pay, - all have a specific right to training, - all have a highly flexible 35-hour-week. This project was limited for 3 ½ years, but was now transformed into a permanent model.

2.
On 29th of June, IG Metall (region of lower Saxony) and the management of “CAR 5000” settled a new agreement on pay and working time flexibility.
The main contents of the agreement are:
- Pay:
- increase of 3 % from the 1st of July 2006
- lump sum payment of 310 € for the months April, May, June
- new regulation of the already existing bonus-system
- Pension:
- additional payment of 27 € monthly for the purpose of financing an individual pension scheme
- working time flexibility
- extension of the flexible working time account: Now, the flexible working time account can fluctuate between plus 400 hours and minus 400 hours.

- In order to understand the concept of a “flexible working time account”, I´ll give some explanation: "Flexible working time account" is supposed to even out the fluctuations of capacity utilisation due to product and market cycles - can only be used in well-defined cases. Works council and management have to negotiate case by case and have to come to an agreement for each case separately - for example extra-shift work. If they agree upon an extra-shift work than they can apply the "flexible working time account" and decide, that all the hours above 35 hours go into the "flexible working time account" - for each worker included in that extra-shift work. The respective amount of hours accumulated on that "flexible working time account" has to be used for the purpose of "time off" in situations of low production. The aim is, to smooth fluctuation in production and income.

Rudolf Welzmüller