ŠKODA announces plans to freeze wages until 2030

Czech automaker Škoda Auto has planned to abandon the increase in salaries, allowances and bonuses to employees against the background of Volkswagen’s plans to freeze salaries until 2030, the Novinky portal reported, citing the head of the trade union Jaroslav Povsik.

According to Povshik, the company’s management recognized for the first time that a difficult situation could affect the workload of factories and the employment of employees in the future. Škoda Auto employs about 36,500 people.

The union opposed the proposed measures. Povshik warned that in the event of layoffs, workers at the company's three production sites would halt production. He also threatened to strike employees.

Škoda Auto is part of the German Volkswagen Group. The cooperation began in 1991, when Volkswagen acquired a stake in the Czech automaker, and in 2000 the concern became its sole owner. ŠKODA has retained its own brand, but as a subsidiary depends on the group’s overall decisions.

Škoda Auto declined to comment on further negotiations. The representative of the company Ivana Povolna noted that the current collective agreement remains in force until March 31, 2027.

The newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung on October 19 reported, citing internal documents of Volkswagen, that the concern plans to freeze the increase in salaries of a significant part of employees around the world until 2030 to reduce costs.

In September, Bild announced that Volkswagen had approved a restructuring plan that would cut 60,000 jobs worldwide. The publication called these measures the “last chance” of the company to avoid losses. According to the Financial Times, Volkswagen could cut up to 100,000 employees by 2030.