Works Council election at Porsche again in court
The legal dispute over the works council election at the Porsche car manufacturer's Zuffenhausen site is now before the Baden-Württemberg State Labor Court. Both Porsche and the Works Council had appealed against a decision by the Stuttgart Labor Court, which had declared the election in April to be invalid.
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. It was argued 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.
As long as the decision of the first instance is not legally binding, the existing works council will remain in office. Several employees had contested the March 2022 election. 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. Such grounds for contestation were not discernible.
The labor court had already declared the 2018 works council election at Daimler invalid due to a similar constellation with a distant business location. The proceedings then went through the courts for several years.
Despite the ongoing court case, the current Works Council at Porsche continues to oversee workplace matters at the Zuffenhausen site. Regardless of the outcome, justice in the form of a fair and valid works council election remains a significant goal for both Porsche and its employees.
Source: www.dpa.com
