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Two years after the Dieselgate scandal erupted, and just a few months ahead of March 2018 elections for German works council members, the atmosphere between Volkswagen's employee representatives and management is somewhat chilly. The reason for this is that Dieselgate-linked provisions and damages payments, as well as the investment expenditure required to fast-track Germany's leading automaker's electric car production, have significantly drained the company's finances as it operates under pressure to thoroughly overhaul and redefine production methods and sites for every one of its vehicle models. All aspects are being passed through a fine toothcomb as for instance the 'Pact for the Future' signed at the end of 2016 (23,000 early retirement departures and 9,000 new positions). Thus the backdrop to repeated media reports of disagreements at supervisory board level between employee representatives and shareholders over the issue of jobs protection and the power of the WC. Some managers hold that IG Metall holds too much power, whilst at the same time there is an ongoing judicial inquiry into why the WC's powerful president, Bernd Osterloh's annual salary in certain years had reached as high as €750,000. Finally, internal auditors have decided to examine the WC's accounts and the work being carried out by some of the WC's employees, something which WC management does not view as being purely co-incidental…
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