For several months a tough struggle has been underway between the German trade union IG Metall and the US electric automaker Tesla, which in 2016, bought the small German company Grohmann Automation, with IG Metall calling on Tesla to raise salary levels and officially recognize the metals sector’s collective agreements. The dispute has been closely followed in Germany and is being seen as a classic culture clash between the USA and Germany. However both parties have reached a compromise whereby Tesla Grohmann management has accepted raising wages, which depending on the situation could be of up to 25% or 30% of previous salary. Management has also agreed to safeguard employment until 2022, although it does continue to refuse to recognize the metals sector’s agreements. Interviewed by Planet Labor, trade union secretary Patrick Georg discusses what was at stake during the negotiations and what has been the upshot.
Culture clash? In November 2016, US electric automaker Tesla bought German SME Grohmann Automation (700 staff) in Prüm, a small town near the border with Belgium. Grohmann Automation produces the machines that make car parts, and especially battery parts. Tesla is looking to produce 500,000 of its latest Model 3 cars and the difficult transition towards mass production could be eased with this strategic acquisition. To this end the US company stated it was looking to raise headcount to about 1,
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