WOLFSBURG (dpa-AFX) - In light of Volkswagen's unexpectedly strong cash position, the works council is now calling for a bonus for employees covered by collective agreements. Works council chairwoman Daniela Cavallo justified the move with the six billion euros by which Volkswagen recently revised its cash flow upwards. "If everyone has delivered so well together in terms of cost discipline," Cavallo said in a special edition of the works council newspaper "Mitbestimmen," obtained by dpa, "then a recognition bonus is only fair. We are demanding this for all employees under the in-house collective agreement — including those in Saxony."
According to the general works council, the bonus could be paid out in May. Traditionally, VW has paid the flexible tariff bonus in that month, which will not be paid this year. The cut was part of the savings package agreed upon by IG Metall and the company late last year after tough negotiations just before Christmas. The flexible bonus is not scheduled to return, and then only in stages, until 2028. However, the advance payment on the bonus in November, which is nearly €1,900, remains untouched.
From zero to six billion
Cavallo initially left open how large the bonus might be. Whether the initiative will succeed at all, and if so, in what amount, now has to be negotiated with management. According to reports, an update may be provided at the next works meeting at the main plant on March 4. VW employs more than 120,000 people at its plants in Lower Saxony, Hesse, and Saxony.
On January 21, VW announced unexpectedly that the capital flow known as cash flow for 2025 had turned out significantly better than previously assumed. Instead of the previously targeted zero euros, it is now six billion euros. Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz described it as a "result of intensive cost work in the areas of preliminary work
- that is, in development and investments - as well as in the management
of our inventories."
Cash flow, simply put, refers to "the money that actually remains in the till," as Antlitz put it. The figure has nothing to do with revenue or profit, at least initially. Cash flow can be influenced, for example, by postponing payments to the following year or by bringing forward receipts./fjo/DP/he
