Workers protest Porsche's plans for Volkswagen
Hundreds of workers descended on Volkswagen's annual shareholder meeting on Thursday to protest what they call sports car maker Porsche's attempts to undermine labour influence at VW.
HAMBURG: Hundreds of workers descended on Volkswagen's annual shareholder meeting on Thursday to protest what they call sports car maker Porsche's attempts to undermine labour influence at VW.
Defending worker rights at VW, senior labour leader Bernd Osterloh has waged a public battle with Porsche Chief Executive Wendelin Wiedeking, after the manager said in September he would not tolerate any "sacred cows" at Volkswagen.
Porsche, keen to take majority control of Europe's largest carmaker, is also set to battle the state of Lower Saxony at the meeting over a controversial statute that allows the state to block key decisions.
Both are proposing rival motions to alter the Articles of Association at Volkswagen to reflect a ruling handed down by Europe's highest court last year striking down parts of a law that Brussels said hindered the free flow of capital.
Lower Saxony wants to maintain an 80 percent threshold for key VW shareholder decisions that at most German companies require only a three-fourths majority. That would effectively keep its 20 percent stake a blocking minority.
It can count on support from the over 80,000 voters that comprise the VW workforce in Lower Saxony, whose labour leaders are among the most vocal opponents of Porsche's plans to boost its 31 percent stake in Europe's biggest carmaker to a majority.
Should Berlin's shaky grand coalition between the conservatives and Social Democrats agree on a proposal for a new, EU-compatible Volkswagen Law, then Lower Saxony's blocking minority becomes cemented in German legislation regardless of the outcome of Thursday's shareholder vote.
Porsche has sounded out whether Lower Saxony might be interested in selling some of its VW shares, but prospects for this are slim considering the strategic value Lower Saxony puts on protecting jobs in the state.
Defending worker rights at VW, senior labour leader Bernd Osterloh has waged a public battle with Porsche Chief Executive Wendelin Wiedeking, after the manager said in September he would not tolerate any "sacred cows" at Volkswagen.
Porsche, keen to take majority control of Europe's largest carmaker, is also set to battle the state of Lower Saxony at the meeting over a controversial statute that allows the state to block key decisions.
Both are proposing rival motions to alter the Articles of Association at Volkswagen to reflect a ruling handed down by Europe's highest court last year striking down parts of a law that Brussels said hindered the free flow of capital.
Lower Saxony wants to maintain an 80 percent threshold for key VW shareholder decisions that at most German companies require only a three-fourths majority. That would effectively keep its 20 percent stake a blocking minority.
It can count on support from the over 80,000 voters that comprise the VW workforce in Lower Saxony, whose labour leaders are among the most vocal opponents of Porsche's plans to boost its 31 percent stake in Europe's biggest carmaker to a majority.
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Meanwhile the Stuttgart-based sport car maker wants to get rid of the 80 percent threshold as it poses a near insurmountable obstacle to gaining full control of Volkswagen. The showdown is largely symbolic, however, since both sides openly expect to fail in their endeavours due to fierce opposition from the other. Should Berlin's shaky grand coalition between the conservatives and Social Democrats agree on a proposal for a new, EU-compatible Volkswagen Law, then Lower Saxony's blocking minority becomes cemented in German legislation regardless of the outcome of Thursday's shareholder vote.
Porsche has sounded out whether Lower Saxony might be interested in selling some of its VW shares, but prospects for this are slim considering the strategic value Lower Saxony puts on protecting jobs in the state.
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