The result is a compromise, in which the Audi Hungária Union (AHFSZ) received more in direct payments but the cafeteria amount was reduced, while the majority of the union’s other demands have also been met.
Workers will receive an 18 percent wage increase guaranteed for 15 months (the original demand was for 18 percent for a one-year period), but the cafeteria amount was reduced to HUF 400,000 (US$1,456) per year from the current HUF 620,000 and the union’s HUF 787,000 demand.
Workers will also be guaranteed at least one full weekend each month – the plant works 24/7 – and the union will be involved in formulating a loyalty bonus scheme for employees.
The Hungarian plant is the main engine producer of the Volkswagen Group – which Audi is part of – and the strike caused stoppages at the firm’s main plant in Ingolstadt, Germany.
“Production continues uninterrupted at most Volkswagen facilities,” the VW Group told Hungarian news agency MTI in a press release. “The effect of the strike was only felt at a few facilities.”
Last year Audi Hungária made 1,954,301 engines for 31 plants of the Volkswagen Group and assembled 100,000 cars, down 0.5 and 5 percent respectively from the 2017 production figures.
