Proceedings for works council election at Porsche drag on
The legal dispute over the works council election at the Porsche car manufacturer's Zuffenhausen site continues. The Baden-Württemberg State Labor Court did not announce a decision on Tuesday in Stuttgart. This is not expected until the end of February at the earliest, as a number of unresolved issues still need to be clarified, the judge announced. For example, the operational structure of the companies affected by the works council election is to be clarified. In addition, the agreements behind the election are to be examined more closely.
Both Porsche and the Works Council had appealed against a decision by the Stuttgart Labor Court, which had declared the election invalid in April.
The background to the court's decision in the first instance was that almost 100 employees of Porsche Dienstleistungs GmbH in Leipzig, which is responsible for the canteens among other things, should not have been allowed to vote. The Stuttgart court reasoned that the exercise of co-determination rights by a local works council was better and more effectively guaranteed in Leipzig than by a works council over 450 kilometers away.
The use of modern means of communication, such as video conferencing, does not replace personal availability on site and therefore does not justify a different assessment. The jurisdiction of Stuttgart for Leipzig had been regulated in several agreements.
The labor court had considered the matter too "sectionally", said the judge at the hearing of the regional labor court. In future, there is to be a new collective agreement under which a separate works council is to be elected for the Leipzig site in the near future, as the Porsche works council announced at the hearing according to the court.
As long as the decision of the court of first instance is not legally binding, the existing works council will remain in office. Several employees had contested the election in March 2022. They saw significant violations and argued, among other things, that seals were missing from the ballot boxes and that parts of the workforce had been informed at too short notice. However, the Stuttgart Labor Court saw no evidence of any of these points. There had been no manipulation and no inconsistencies.
Despite the ongoing legal dispute, the affected Porsche workers still look forward to exercising their right to justice and electing a new works council. Regardless of the court's decision, the current car factory workers continue their daily commute to work, contributing to the company's operations.
Source: www.dpa.com
