But this early January, some workers contacted The Free to express their dissatisfaction. “We are far from 400,000 euros”says one of them, with a supporting chart. A document that we were able to consult and for which we were able to cross-check the amounts from several sources.
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If the compensation seems to differ, we should nevertheless note that this approaches, for a worker with between 30 and 40 years of seniority, a sum of between 240,000 and 270,000 euros of gross compensation in total, legal and extra-legal bonuses combined.
Which remains far from the 400,000 euros advanced in the past. “Especially since we can remove almost half if we talk about what the workers will really receive, by removing social security contributions and professional withholding tax!” exclaims another source, who prefers to remain anonymous.
So why do these amounts seem to differ so much from what has been announced in the past? Explanations.
A confusion?
First of all, let us point out that the table circulating among workers only shows the amounts of “extra legal” bonuses advanced by management. In short, what Audi puts on the table in addition to what the law provides.
And according to this table, for a case of a worker with 40 years of seniority, the “extra legal” gross amount will be 150,000 euros, i.e. the maximum ceiling. For 30 years of seniority, it is for example 120,000 euros (a common base of 32,000 euros + 3,000 euros per year of seniority from 5 years of seniority). To which we must therefore add the legal bonus, which, there, depends on the salary and the family conditions and status of each worker.
gull“There are always people to cry about, but they are eternally unhappy! The subcontractors have nothing!”
“It’s difficult to give a precise figure, but it’s around 80,000 euros gross for a worker with 30 years of seniority for the legal part.reports a source close to management. Amount to which we can add an additional 10,000 euros for people who started working at Audi before 2014. An amount advanced by Audi to put workers and employees hired before 2014 in the same boat because they, before 2014, had a status very different and much less interesting for workers in terms of notice of dismissal.
Audi employees and workers are on average entitled to their legal compensation bonus to which is added an extra-legal bonus, which consists of a base of 32,000 euros + 3,000 euros per year of seniority from 5 years of seniority.
“This bonus is unequal between someone who was hired in 1990 and someone else in 2013 because both will have the same amount. But despite this, extra-legal bonuses are still interesting. There are always some to cry, but they are eternally unhappy! The subcontractors have nothing!“says a source, very critical of the management but who recognizes that the amounts are not”not peanuts“.
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“What bothers me is that the management is humanly mediocre. She says she wants to restart production this week, but that’s making fun of the world. In any case, it is the Germans who are in charge behind it, and they have done everything to scare people, as with the story of the closure of factories in Germany. It reduces people’s willpower. But they don’t care, while the company still makes significant profits (6.3 billion euros in net profits in 2023, on nearly 70 billion in turnover, for example, Editor’s note). “The big Audi family“, as we were told, these are empty words“, says this source, bitterly.
gull“They don’t care, even though the company is still making significant profits.”
A great announcement… But not only that?
Management therefore certainly mentioned the figure of 400,000 euros in total (legal and extra-legal bonuses), but nevertheless clarified from the outset that the compensation would be around 125,000 and 190,000 euros on average for workers, for approximately 17 years of seniority and, therefore, between 200,000 and 400,000 euros beyond 30 years. But beyond the “nice announcement”, what management could have clarified from the outset is that the workers eligible for the highest amounts are not the workers, but rather the employed engineers who work for Audi for several decades.
gull“No worker is going to leave with such a sum. This does not reflect the reality of the 2,700 workers.”
“It’s normal, they have had many years of education and have higher salaries than workers, but still. No worker is going to leave with such a sum. This does not reflect the reality of the 2,700 workers (out of around 2,900 workers in total, not including subcontractors, Editor’s note) from the factory. Small hands are average, not white-collar workers“, exclaims another source, who rubs shoulders with both worlds but also prefers to remain anonymous. Even the two workers who have 47 years of seniority – an exception – included in the table that we were able to consult will therefore not be able to do so. pretend. “This allows them to inflate the figures and make it more acceptable.”we are told again.
On the management side, we are told that the bonuses have always been announced “between 200,000 and 400,000 euros” for workers with the most seniority. “Which is not nothing”tells us a source close to management, who recognizes that the gap can be “clearly important” between workers and engineers. Remember that legal compensation depends on salary and position and that the “extra-legal” bonus, which depends above all on seniority, is a way for Audi to turn the page on collective dismissal in what it considers to be the best conditions.
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“Workers should receive approximately 50 to 60% of the gross amount in net”specify several sources, after a quick calculation. “There are social security contributions and withholding tax, but this varies depending on each person’s personal situation. So it’s not bad, but let’s remember that the legal bonus is linked to the notice period. During this time, people are not receiving unemployment and workers aged 58 or 59 will have nothing afterwards. The ideal for them is to find a job as quickly as possible but it will be complicated. We have less than 5% re-employment for workers who are over 55 years old in general. reports a source.
What to do in case of non-payment?
All our sources nevertheless affirm that the bonuses remain theoretical amounts and some fear difficulties in actually receiving them. The management has already circumvented the unions by putting an end to the Renault procedure.
“How does management intend to clearly announce its proposals? And if we don’t accept, what do we do? They sow discord“, says a source. “Anyone who has been in 4/5th for a year after a full-time career is clearly a loser“, she continues. “And to announce that they are for a relaunch of production this week is to take people for imbeciles. How do you want to restart production in current conditions? Even subcontractors can’t keep up“, concludes this source.
Nevertheless, the Audi spokesperson is confident and affirms for his part that he can announce a resumption this week, or even this Tuesday. But few internally seem convinced of this.
