Initial findings of the EnBW closed-doors meeting in Obermaiselstein

Following their four-day meeting in Obermaiselstein, the two negotiating commissions of EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG issued the following joint statement:

The discussions between the negotiating commissions of the "AK Energie" (the chairpersons of the works councils in EnBW's Energy division) and the employers have produced initial concrete results.

At the meeting, which took place in a constructive and earnest atmosphere - despite the different interests and perspectives - the parties succeeded in reaching an agreement on the following issues:

With immediate effect, there will be a uniform policy within the Group with regard to socially sensitive personnel cutbacks. This will apply to the extension of agreements on early retirement and supplementary provisions on phased part-time retirement. The parties agreed, for example, to expand the existing provisions on early retirement to employees born in 1951. A company-level agreement to this effect is ready for signing. In line with this agreement, all employees who take early retirement up to December 31, 2005 will still be covered by the current provisions on retirement benefits. The same was agreed for employees who enter phased part-time retirement up to December 31, 2005. Moreover, the negotiating parties agreed to promote utilisation of the existing options for early retirement and part-time employment.

The agreement on a uniform policy for voluntarily redundancies is of particular importance, including coordination of specific severance payments.

The negotiating parties discussed the uniform implementation of personnel restructuring processes in the group within the context of the forthcoming personnel measures. There is agreement that there will be a staggered strategy for any personnel restructuring measures. First and foremost, full use will be made of all the options for voluntary personnel cutbacks and reorganisation. Only then will selection procedures come into play, and these procedures will be drawn up in more detail by a joint working group.

The employer's proposals for the reorganisation of company benefits were also presented and discussed.

The 4-day week is a matter for the bargaining parties (employers' association, the ver.di trade union) and was therefore not a topic of discussion at these negotiations.

Several further days were scheduled for negotiations in November.