Daimler extends job security

German vehicle maker Daimler and the company’s joint works council have struck a deal which means there will be no compulsory redundancies among the company’s around 130,000 permanent employees in Germany for five years.

The job security agreement runs from 1 January 2012 until 31 December 2016 and is an extension a current five-year deal, which runs out at the end of this year.

In return for the job security, the works council has agreed that, to cope with fluctuations in demand, up to 8% of those employed in the production area can be agency workers or be on temporary contracts. (This was also in the earlier agreement.) In certain circumstances, provided the local works council agrees, this percentage can be exceeded for a limited period.

Erich Klemm, the chair of the joint works council, which represents all of the German employees, said it was “very happy” with the agreement, which “gives the employees renewed security and perspectives for the future”. However, he added that the job security it provided was “very appropriate, given the current excellent economic position of the company.”

The Daimler agreement does not cover pay, which is negotiated between the employers’ association and the union, IG Metall, at industry level, where the current agreement runs out at the end of March 2012.