 Volkswagen wants staff to work longer to cut production costs |
Talks scheduled for Tuesday between management and unions at German carmaker Volkswagen (VW) over work contracts have been postponed. "Big differences" still remained between the two sides, the firm said, with plans to meet now set for Friday.
The IG Metall union has agreed to further talks.
Under a significant restructuring drive, VW wants to extend the working week without raising wages at six plants in western Germany.
Tough talks
VW is hoping to make significant cuts to its production costs as it faces increasing competition in the industry.
Among its plans are to move production of the VW Golf out of Germany, if it cannot cut its wage bill.
VW has previously warned that some 20,000 jobs could be at risk unless productivity is increased at the six sites.
It wants to increase working hours at the factories to 35 a week from the current 28.8 hours.
"The talks are very uncompromising," said IG Metall's chief negotiator Hartmut Meine after discussions on Monday broke down.
Separately on Tuesday, VW said that it expected a 10% growth in its production of commercial vehicles - such as transporters, buses and trucks.
In the first eight months of 2006, there was a 10% increase in deliveries from the division, to 281,000 vehicles.
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