Belgium: a social pre-agreement for the employees in Volkswagen’s plant in Forest

Over two months and a half after the announcement of the reorganization in VW's plant in Forest, the social agreement is almost settled for workers. On the other hand, on the employees' side, talks were still grounded, because unions judge that their unemployment compensation was insufficient. When they met in a general assembly on the morning of February 13, the employees finally approved the social agreement, closed out at the end of the night by the management and the unions. (Ref. 070138)
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The pre-agreement plans that the number of layoffs will not surpass 100 and that the compensations granted to the employees dismissed will spread from 29,000 to 196,000 euros according to their seniority. “This agreement is in keeping with our will to bear our social responsibility towards all of our workers,” emphasized Jos Kayaerts, staff director at VW Forest. “For unions, it is important that unemployment compensations are higher than those granted to workers who choose a voluntary leave. T

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