DAfter complaints from some participants, the Braunschweig labor court found deficiencies in the course of the last works council election at the VW main plant in Wolfsburg and declared them invalid for the time being. “The challenge to the election was successful,” said the court on request. From the vote in March, the IG Metall list with works council chief Daniela Cavallo emerged as the winner by a wide margin.
However, some members of alternative lists saw irregularities in the handling of election posters, for example. As a court spokesman said on Wednesday, a total of nine applicants also complained about the handling of postal voting. For example, the priority of attendance voting over postal voting was violated, it said.
“The works council will go to the next instance”
The works council spoke of a surprising decision, which they took note of. The written justification must still be awaited in detail. “Regardless of this, it is already clear: the works council will go to the next instance to have the current decision reviewed by the regional labor court,” it said. The newly elected works council will remain in office until further notice. The reasons given to the court why the vote should be contestable are not considered convincing.
Cavallo had officially stood up for the IG Metall, which has traditionally been influential at Volkswagen, for the first time as the top candidate for the works council in the main plant, after the committees had initially only temporarily and internally appointed her as Bernd Osterloh’s successor in 2021. After the count, the union reported a share of 85.5 percent. The next strongest force was, according to the works council, “The Other List” with the local ex-IG Metall boss Frank Patta. Cavallo also sits on the presidium of the VW supervisory board, where all fundamental decisions on corporate strategy are made.
