Deal presented as “one of highest wage increases” in company’s history
Workers at Autoeuropa, the Volkswagen-owned plant at Palmela, south of Lisbon, that is Portugal’s largest exporter, have rejected a labour agreeement negotiated between management and worker representatives, valid for three years, and which would guarantee wage increases of 6.8% in 2024 and 2.6%, or 0.6% above inflation, in 2025 and 2026.
According to the Works Council (CT), of the 4,888 registered workers, 3,932 exercised their right to vote in a ballot held on Tuesday and Wednesday, of which 1,645 (41.8%) voted in favour of the pre-agreement and 2,268 (57.7%) voted against, with 956 abstentions (19.6%), 10 blank votes and nine null votes.
In light of workers’ rejection of the provisional agreement, the CT has already announced that it will “demand that the company return to the negotiating table.”
The deal that had been reached in negotiations between the CT and Autoeuropa management, in addition to guaranteeing the percentage increases in basic salary, shift allowance and weekend work, also foresaw an annual objectives bonus that could provide, on average, more than €2,500 to each worker.
It also provided for a one-off bonus, equivalent to one month’s salary, to be awarded in 2025 for the launch of the new T-Roc hybrid model, which is to be produced from next year in 2025 at the Volkswagen plant in Palmela, in the district of Setúbal.
Before the vote, the CT pointed out that the increases provided for in the pre-agreement negotiated with the company’s management would make it possible to safeguard the purchasing power of Autoeuropa workers in the face of any internal or external factor.
The managing director of Autoeuropa, Thomas Hegel Gunther, in an internal communication to workers before the vote, emphasised that the deal provided for “one of the highest wage increases in the history of Volkswagen/Autoeuropa” but warned of rising production costs at the plant in challenging times for the European car industry.
Autoeuropa last year produced a total of 220,100 Volkswagen T-Roc cars, the only model currently in production at the Palmela plant.
LUSA
