Audi has provided some more details about the severance package it is offering to employees of the Brussels car factory that will close its doors at the end of February.
Unions and management failed to reach an agreement on a social plan at Audi Brussels on Wednesday. The company will now approach employees directly.
Audi offers the statutory severance payment and on top of that a company bonus, depending on position and salary. “An employee with 17 years of seniority receives on average between 125,000 and 190,000 euros gross in total, depending on his position and salary,” it says.
For employees with 30 years of seniority, this amounts to 200,000 to 400,000 euros gross.
The unions confirm the amounts, but emphasize that these are gross amounts. “So half of that will be reduced,” says Jan Baetens of ACV Metea. “It is also less than what other car manufacturers and suppliers offer in the event of a closure. And we are talking about a multinational that makes billions of euros in profit. The land in Brussels alone is worth a billion euros,” says Baetens. “The shareholders get more.”