Head of VW Works Council in Saxony resigns

The head of the Works Council at VW Saxony, Uwe Kunstmann, is resigning from his posts at the Zwickau vehicle plant. The Chairman of the General Works Council addressed the employees in a letter on Friday, in which he justified his resignation with personal misconduct, as the company confirmed to Deutsche Presse Agentur. Kunstmann had informed the company in advance of his planned move, said company spokesman Christian Sommer. The "Freie Presse Chemnitz" had initially reported on the personnel matter.

The background to this is a traffic accident in July, which the 50-year-old claims to have caused. Kunstmann is thus drawing the consequences of "serious personal mistakes" that he made as a private individual. He had taken the decision in order to avert damage to the workforce and the company. VW Saxony did not comment on the decision of its Chairman of the General Works Council. "We accept his decision and thank him for the cooperation in his function," said Christian Sommer. Kunstmann will remain in his position until the end of September in order to ensure an orderly transformation process, Sommer added.

Double resignation at the top

The personnel decision comes at the end of a "difficult week" for VW Saxony. Just one day earlier, Kunstmann's deputy Kristin Oder had already announced her resignation in the middle of the month. According to the company, the deputy head of the works council wants to reorient herself professionally. IG Metall must now appoint a successor by October in order to represent the interests of employees both locally and at Group management level in Wolfsburg. The next works council election at VW Saxony is scheduled for next January.

Pioneering location under pressure

The plant in Zwickau - like other VW locations - is under increasing pressure due to the Group-wide austerity measures. Zwickau is a VW pioneer in the production of e-cars. Since November 2019, the car factory has been the first site to produce only fully electric vehicles. According to the company, almost every second e-car registered by the Volkswagen Group comes from Zwickau. However, demand for the vehicles remains weak. As a result, many fixed-term contracts have already not been extended and the night shift at the two production lines has been canceled.

Volkswagen has high hopes for new, affordable electric models: the IAA Mobility motor show opens its doors on Sunday, initially for trade visitors. Among other things, VW has announced the world premieres of several small electric cars from the Volkswagen, Cupra and Škoda brands.