Following its failure to reach an agreement with the unions on severance terms for staff at the Audi car factory in the Brussels municipality of Vorst, the German car manufacturer is now approaching its employees directly. Audi is offering them statutory severance payments plus a bonus, depending on the position they currently hold and their salary.
Audi Brussels closure: Audi offers up to 400,000 euro in severance for staff that have worked at the plant for 30 years
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Audi says that “On average, an employee with 17 years of service will receive a total of between 125,000 euro and 190,000 euro, depending on their salary and function”.
On Wednesday unions and management were unable to agree on severance term for those that currently work at Audi Brussels. The company is now planning to approach staff directly in order to agree severance terms. For staff that have been with the company for 30 years, the amount of severance pay proposed by Audi is between 200,000 euro and 400,000 euro.
The trade unions confirm that this is what Audi is proposing, but stress that figures quoted are gross and that the net severance payment received by those made redundant will be only around half of this. Jan Baetens of the Christian trade union ACV Metea adds that “It's less than what other car manufacturers and suppliers are offering in the event of a closure”.
Mr Baetens goes on to say that Volkswagen Group (of which Audi is a part) is a multinational company that makes billions of euro in profits. “The factory site in Brussels alone is worth a billion euro”. The Audi plant in the Brussels municipality of Vorst is due to close at the end of February 2025.