Dusseldorf Daniela Cavallo actually wanted to come to the press conference in person and announce the result of the works council election at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg. But since Friday morning it was clear that there would be a maximum of one digital press conference. The chairwoman of the works council has now caught it: In the morning she had tested positive for the corona virus.
In front of the computer camera, she could hardly feel anything of the infection. On the contrary. The 46-year-old made her audience feel satisfied with the very good election result. Because: She has been confirmed with a high proportion of votes from the base, she can continue in her post. “Of course I’m pleased with the result,” said the previous and future chairwoman of the Volkswagen Works Council. The workforce trusts IG Metall to master future challenges in difficult times.
It was already clear in advance that she would have somewhat more difficult starting conditions than her long-time predecessor Bernd Osterloh. Four years ago, Osterloh won almost 86 percent of the votes with the IG Metall electoral list, which gave the union 66 of a total of 75 mandates in the works council. Osterloh didn’t have any particularly big competition, only three smaller electoral lists competed against the all-powerful IG Metall.
Daniela Cavallo had to deal with a total of seven other electoral lists in the past few weeks. Six of them were occupied by IG Metall members, ultimately with renegades from their own union ranks. The most prominent opponent was Frank Patta, a long-standing member of the VW works council and previously also head of the Wolfsburg IG Metall local administration, who ran with the “Other List” in the works council elections.
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The Wolfsburg VW works council represents around 67,000 people who work at the car manufacturer’s headquarters in production, in group administration or in vehicle development. The degree of unionization is high, there is hardly anyone without a membership book: around 90 percent of VW employees have joined the union. Because the workforce has shrunk somewhat in the past four years, the new VW works council will only have 73 members in the future.
Daniela Cavallo can be extremely satisfied that she did almost as well as her predecessor Osterloh with almost 86 percent of the votes. She even held the 66 mandates, which have become even more valuable with a slightly reduced works council. When the new works council meets for its constitutive meeting, the incumbent VW works council chairwoman can be sure of her re-election.
Daniela Cavallo has passed the baptism of fire of her first works council election. The majority of the workforce stands by her, the grass roots have committed themselves to the first woman to hold the top position on the Volkswagen works council. When she was elected the new chairman of the employee representative body almost a year ago, only her own union officials had to vote for her. The test choice by the entire VW workforce was still pending.
In the short year of her tenure, Daniela Cavallo has had a number of successes – which meant that nobody actually doubted her re-election. The only open question was how well she would do. She left the strongest impression in the argument with CEO Herbert Diess at the end of last year. Diess wanted to check whether up to 35,000 jobs could be cut at the Wolfsburg headquarters. The head of the works council successfully opposed this, and in the end Diess almost lost his top position in the group.
>>Read herehow Volkswagen is dealing with the current crisis.
Election opponent Patta also certifies Daniela Cavallo that she has successfully stood up to the head of the group. “In the end, she personally benefited from the Diess crisis,” he says. You can stand in front of the workforce and refer to your negotiation successes. Patta has to be content with what he sees as a meager four mandates in the new works council.
Daniela Cavallo has even more plus points on the credit side. It has succeeded in bringing electronics production to the Wolfsburg headquarters earlier than planned. From next year, the electric model ID.3 will also be manufactured there. The production of the second generation of Volkswagen electric models, the “Trinity” series, will start much later in Wolfsburg, namely in 2026.
Daniela Cavallo also negotiated successfully when it came to money. The VW employees get an additional bonus of 1,300 euros, although the company’s annual results for 2021 actually spoke against it. There is also another corona bonus for employees and an additional 2000 euros for each employee if the planned IPO of the subsidiary Porsche is successful by the end of this year. With so many financial donations to employees, it almost looks as if the company didn’t want to cause any particular problems for Daniela Cavallo when she was re-elected.
More: Works council elections in the auto industry: IG Metall loses its exceptional position.