Kretschmer believes longer working hours at VW are possible

In the struggle over the future of the VW plant in Zwickau, Saxony’s Minister-President Michael Kretschmer sees longer working hours as an option. “We’re too expensive,” the CDU politician said on ZDF’s “Morgenmagazin.” Germany must face this reality, he added. In his view, however, this should not come at the expense of lower wages. Kretschmer advocated for a “mix of measures,” as he put it, “including, to some extent, longer working hours.”

Kretschmer expressed optimism regarding the future of the VW plant in Zwickau, Saxony. He noted that the plant is the most efficient in Germany. “Of course, this company will manage to get back to the very top.” Volkswagen now needs support from German policymakers and the European Union—“not financially, but in the form of less regulation and lower costs, for example, when it comes to energy.”

Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume visited the VW plant in Saxony on Wednesday. Blume had reiterated that no decisions had been made regarding plant closures, but that at the same time there was still “no competitive capacity utilization for the 2030s” at the Emden, Hanover, Zwickau, and Neckarsulm sites.