Carmaker Porsche would like to get its employees to work longer hours for no additional pay, a German newspaper reported on Sunday.
The company wants to do away with a five minute per hour break, which company officials say adds up to 18 work days a year, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily reported.
Union leader Uwe Hueck called lengthening hours without increasing pay ”immoral,” according to the paper.
”I won’t accept that people work for free. There will be very tough negotiations — not for weaklings,” Hueck was quoted as saying.
A contract between employees and management is expected to be renegotiated before it runs out in the summer of 2005. Such a decision would be dependent on whether — and where — the company decides to manufacture a fourth model, the paper reported.
Germans have increasingly faced longer hours as industry, under pressure from cheaper wages abroad and a sluggish economy at home, tries to cut soaring labour costs.
Engineering giant Siemens AG achieved what is widely viewed as a groundbreaking deal this summer by getting workers at phone repair facilities in northern Germany to work 40 hours rather than 35 for no added pay.
Automaker DaimlerChrysler, tire company Continental and auto supplier Robert Bosch have also pushed for longer hours. – Sapa-AP