2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
The car manufacturer BMW is allowed to employ temporary workers in its Leipzig plant. The Leipzig Labor Court ruled that the group does not violate any laws.
Another defeat for the works council of the car manufacturer BMW. In the legal dispute over the deployment of 1,100 temporary workers at the BMW plant in Leipzig, the employee representatives received another defeat on Friday. Two chambers of the Leipzig Labor Court decided that BMW may continue to employ the temporary workers. In the opinion of the court, the works council should not have refused its approval. No laws were violated, the labor judges found. About 300 temporary workers from the paint shop and body shop are affected by the proceedings negotiated on Friday.
BMW works council wants permanent positions
The works council is opposed to hiring or continuing to employ temporary workers and instead wants to increase the proportion of permanent employees. The car manufacturer called the labor court to make the approval of the employee representatives superfluous. A decision in favor of the company had already been made in an initial procedure involving 33 temporary workers. The works council has lodged an objection with the regional labor court.
The chamber did not make a fundamental decision on whether there is a time limit for the use of temporary workers and how long it could be. Judge Olaf Suckert admitted that the controversial term in the temporary employment agency act was vague.
Put pressure on the BMW tip
Three negotiations on the same topic are still on the agenda in Leipzig until July. Works council chief Jens Köhler rejected a suggestion by the judges to let the pending proceedings rest until the state labor court had decided on the objection. He wants to go through all the procedures to put pressure on the ongoing negotiations between the BMW leadership and the employee representatives on the future of temporary work. “I need external pressure so that we can get a solution internally,” he said. He expects it in the coming weeks. "I have a good feeling." According to the union, BMW employs 11,000 temporary workers nationwide.
In Leipzig, BMW produces several models of the 1 series as well as the X1 off-road vehicle. The plant is currently being expanded with an investment of around 400 million euros for the construction of electric cars. BMW had achieved a whopping profit of 4.9 billion euros in 2011. That was an increase of 51.3 percent compared to 2010. The collective bargaining employees also received bonuses. (dpa)
