2024 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:13
Volkswagen will stop production in many of its plants due to the corona virus. The last shift should run on Friday. The same applies to other car manufacturers.
So it was said on Tuesday from the works council in Wolfsburg. In the past few days, there had also been the first confirmed cases of infections with the causative agent of the lung disease Covid-19 in German plants. The works council has now discussed the situation with the management board. From the point of view of the employee representatives, the decision to interrupt production has not yet been sufficient.
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"The focus was on the situation of the colleagues in the direct area, where people work shoulder to shoulder on our vehicles on the assembly lines," it said. However, the Robert Koch Institute recommends minimum distances that cannot be maintained at the individual workstations. "We are urging binding announcements here," the works council told management.
Production stop for two weeks for the time being
It was initially unclear what consequences the step will have for production at the world's largest automaker and how long the measure will last. VW boss Herbert Diess said that many locations are setting up a two-week break. According to the latest information from the group, the German VW locations have so far only been affected by relatively few proven Sars-Cov-2 infections.
Cases in the Baunatal plant near Kassel and in the main plant in Wolfsburg became known last weekend. According to the latest information, the employees concerned are doing well, they are in quarantine at home. VW had recently tightened hygiene and distance regulations, and canteens should also be closed. Business trips have been restricted and larger meetings postponed.
Curb the spread
The executive board and works council recently turned to the workforce. "It is clear to us that we have to reckon with Corona cases at Volkswagen too," said a letter to the employees. “But it's about curbing the spread. Because this is how we protect the weak in society: our parents and grandparents, lung patients, asthmatics and all other people at risk."
The largest German industrial group has more than 670,000 employees worldwide, and increased precautionary measures are now also in place in many other countries. According to official information, the supply chains have so far not been significantly interrupted or endangered.
In China, where the coronavirus pandemic broke out and Volkswagen had to close factories for a while, the situation has recently eased somewhat. In February sales in the People's Republic crashed: They fell in the most important single market by almost three quarters compared to the previous year. The effect was largely responsible for the fact that, even from a global perspective, there was a considerable minus of 24.6 percent in the sales statistics.
PSA is also closing factories
On Monday, the Opel parent company PSA announced that it would close 15 car factories in Europe in the coming days due to the Covid 19 pandemic. In Germany, the Rüsselsheim and Eisenach locations will be affected from Tuesday, as the manufacturer announced on Monday in Rueil-Malmaison near Paris. The closings are expected to last until March 27th.
The manufacturer Renault says it will close twelve factories in France with around 18,000 employees until further notice. The situation in the other European countries depends on the conditions there, said the manufacturer. The Peugeot manufacturer PSA cited interruptions in the supply chain and a significant decline in the automotive markets as reasons. Locations in Spain, France, Portugal, Great Britain and Slovakia are also affected. (dpa)
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