Same work, less pay
July 22, 2009
The daily Stuttgarter Zeitung quoted one employee of Daimler's IT subsidiary, Protics, who said his pay would be cut by almost 8 percent as of Aug. 1.
"This is unacceptable," the unnamed worker said, adding that the pay cut was not being offset by a reduction in working hours or a limited guarantee of ongoing employment - measures Daimler offered its internal workforce as compensation for sacrificing pay under a cost-cutting program launched in April
Daimler confirmed that one-sided pay cuts were being introduced at Protics, a data management offshoot that employs some 360 workers in the southern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The company said the cuts were, however, only temporary and would be phased out by the end of June 2010.
The Stuttgarter Zeitung reported that similar one-sided cuts are also planned at Daimler TSS, a subsidiary that makes software in the southern German city of Ulm, but Daimler headquarters has declined to comment further on the scope or scale of cuts among its subsidiaries.
A company spokeswoman said senior management had made it clear that all parts of the company would have to bear their share of the burden when they first announced their cost-cutting strategy. She added that it was up to each subsidiary to decide which measures were most appropriate.
sje/AFP/dpa/AP
Editor: Sean Sinico