A strike in the Bratislava-based car-making plant Volkswagen Slovakia ended after six days on Sunday. After all-day-long negotiations, the unions and the management of the company signed a new collective agreement, valid until August 31, 2019. Production in the plant started again on Monday at 6 a.m. As the company's spokesperson Lucia Kovarovič Makayová said, the counterparts agreed on a gradual increase in salaries: by 4.7% as of June 2017, by another 4.7% as of January 2018, by 4.1% as of November 2018 and by another 4.1% as of August 2019. According to the new rules, the two lowest income tiers were dropped, moving all employees from these as well as new employees automatically to what used to be the third lowest income tier. The unions and the management also agreed on a one-time bonus of 500€ for all employees paid on June 2017. Moreover, the workers will receive compensation for their income at the level of 40% for the first three days of their sick leave and volunteer blood donors will also receive increased contributions. In 2018 and 2019, the company will also grant their employees one extra day off. "We thus decided to contribute to ensuring a long-term perspective for both our employees and the company, too," said Kovarovič Makayová.
The representatives of the trade unions announced the end of strike on social media. "We are finishing it with very successful collective negotiations. We managed to reach agreements in all our points. Income tiers will be gradually increased by 14.12% until November 2018," said the unions' chair Zoroslav Smolinský, who also thanked all participants and supporters of the strike. At the beginning of the strike, the unions requested a 16% hike in workers' salaries.
