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Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

reuters.com

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Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#81

Post by yardie »

cat199 wrote: post #80
Radle wrote: post #78

This is absolutely why German unions are awesome, read this: "Labor leaders at Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) luxury Audi brand have asked top management to assign production of an all-electric model to the carmaker's main plant in Germany, concerned they might lose out as electric cars gain in importance." The reason for the Union speaking out is twofold: The workers want to have the necessary skill set in building EV and…

> This is absolutely why German unions are awesome curious: What about this is specific to German unions?

In all my travels I've never seen quite a union as German unions. They have a seat at the board and are involved with decisions the board makes. This creates a drastically less antagonistic relationship between capital and labor.

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#82

Post by sp332 »

dangrossman wrote: post #76
sp332 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know the Nissan Leaf doesn't put much stress on the oil either, so changes are extremely rare. And regenerative braking takes a lot of stress off the brakes, so Tesla's brake pads are rated for 100,000 miles. No spark plugs or air filters either.

What oil?

This is half-remembered from an article a while back. It didn't have any details about the "oil" so it might be gearbox oil.

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#83

Post by ythn »

tomjen3 wrote: post #71

This is impressive, and I'm usually not a fan of unions, but they actually thinking ahead and switching to a electric vehicle must mean that at least some of their members will have to either drastically change what they do become unemployed, possibly both, which can't be an easy sell. I am also entirely certain the union is entirely correct in how they see the future.

> This is impressive, and I'm usually not a fan of unions

Germany has an unusual knack for making normally inefficient things efficient. You are probably used to unions in America which are often extremely inefficient, to the detriment of the company/government department.

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#84

Post by joeyo »

cat199 wrote: post #80
Radle wrote: post #78

This is absolutely why German unions are awesome, read this: "Labor leaders at Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) luxury Audi brand have asked top management to assign production of an all-electric model to the carmaker's main plant in Germany, concerned they might lose out as electric cars gain in importance." The reason for the Union speaking out is twofold: The workers want to have the necessary skill set in building EV and…

> This is absolutely why German unions are awesome curious: What about this is specific to German unions?

Codetermination: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codetermination_in_Germany

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#85

Post by sanguy »

yardie wrote: post #81
cat199 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is absolutely why German unions are awesome curious: What about this is specific to German unions?

In all my travels I've never seen quite a union as German unions. They have a seat at the board and are involved with decisions the board makes. This creates a drastically less antagonistic relationship between capital and labor.

Yes, and even in smaller org's (above 20) the employees are able to setup an employee council that helps management steer the company.

It's not something that can be rejected by management.

For someone from North America it can be a challenge to accept but does work quite well once you get over it.

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#86

Post by cmarschner »

caminante wrote: post #73
masklinn wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Companies and unions are in a prisoner's dilemma, the german/nordic model works because both parties cooperate, historically US or French companies have not been cooperative (many a US labor movement or union was put down by private armies — pinkerton was a big one — or even the US army). If the union cooperates with an uncooperative company it just gets rolled over, if the union is combative it works better (until t…

Germany has a lot of govt. financed/controlled businesses. Lower Saxony (German state) has 20% voting control of Volkswagen, Audi's parent company. There are also anti-takeover restrictions such as shareholder ownership caps.

>Germany has a lot of govt. financed/controlled businesses.

Examples, apart from VW and Deutsche Bahn? After privatization of the Kohl era there shouldn't be much left. When I was a kid I even drank milk from a state-owned dairy plant.

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#87

Post by woodpanel »

amenghra wrote: post #64
jessewmc wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A4s (and to a slightly lesser extent all other Audis) have been, up until very recently, among the most unreliable new vehicles for sale since the model's inception. Combine that with expensive Audi parts, expensive and zealous dealership labour, and they are unbelievably expensive to maintain. I own a 2006 that I bought for a song--I do my own service, so I was willing to take a bit of risk. The cars are very diffic…

A post about BMW Engines: http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/bmw-engines-are-gigantic-piece...

A smear piece. While condemning the whole of BMW engineering the author is putting more effort to use the words "sht" and "fck" than he is to disclaim even once transparently that all of his "experiences" are based on cars that were 20 years or older at the time.

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#88

Post by woodpanel »

rajathagasthya wrote: post #35
S_A_P wrote: post #9

As a former Audi owner, I wonder if the "audi service position" will be applicable to their electric cars. Tangental I know, but I would be curious to know if they will make their cars easier/cheaper to service. I never really had much trouble with my A4, but maintenance costs upwards of 1k per 6 months(I was driving a lot of miles at the time) turned me off to the ownership experience.

1k per 6 months of maintenance costs? If you don't mind answering, what kind of maintenance was it that you had to do every 6 months?

Was thinking the same. Have driven cars in the same price range and while maintenance is indeed expensive, I've had a hard time even coming near 1k a year.

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#89

Post by sanguy »

yardie wrote: post #81
cat199 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is absolutely why German unions are awesome curious: What about this is specific to German unions?

In all my travels I've never seen quite a union as German unions. They have a seat at the board and are involved with decisions the board makes. This creates a drastically less antagonistic relationship between capital and labor.

Yes, and even in smaller org's (above 20) the employees are able to setup an employee council that helps management steer the company.

It's not something that can be rejected by management.

For someone from North America it can be a challenge to accept but does work quite well once you get over it.

Re: Audi's unions demand electric model for main German plant

#90

Post by velodrome »

cat199 wrote: post #80
Radle wrote: post #78

This is absolutely why German unions are awesome, read this: "Labor leaders at Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) luxury Audi brand have asked top management to assign production of an all-electric model to the carmaker's main plant in Germany, concerned they might lose out as electric cars gain in importance." The reason for the Union speaking out is twofold: The workers want to have the necessary skill set in building EV and…

> This is absolutely why German unions are awesome curious: What about this is specific to German unions?

1) Germany did not have a minimum wage until recently. They just enacted a minimum wage in 2015. Minimum wage erodes the strength and bargaining power of trade unions. Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Sweden do not have a minimum wage but have strong trade unions.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28140594

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/080515/5-deve...

2) They have strong apprenticeship programs and vocational training.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apprenticeship#Germany

3) Mittelstand - long-term, focused, and sustainable business culture

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mittelstand

http://theconversation.com/the-secret-behind-germanys-thrivi...

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