International Business : German Car Maker Opel to Abandon Fixed Workweek

Adam Opel said Wednesday that it will become the first car maker in Germany to abolish fixed working hours and will introduce a floating system that tailors the number of hours worked to the demand for its cars.

The General Motors unit said representatives of management and workers have agreed in principle to let work hours fluctuate between 30 and 40 a week, while avoiding regular Saturday shifts and limiting the number of daily hours worked to eight.

“The management and works council are both convinced that this [work force] model, which is unique in the car industry, is a further step toward stabilizing employment, safeguarding jobs and making Germany a more attractive site for production,” Opel said in a statement.

Opel’s move marks a step toward greater labor flexibility, which business leaders, politicians and the Bundesbank have tirelessly propounded as crucial to offsetting Germany’s high labor costs and preventing an exodus of jobs abroad.

An Opel spokesman said no agreement has been signed yet but that management and employee representatives have concurred on the basic elements of the deal.

A working group is discussing details, and the new system will be introduced on Sept. 1.

Opel said its plan guarantees steady monthly income and will be based a work week averaging 35 hours, down from the current 36 hours.

The car maker said earlier this year that its planned investment of about $4.3 billion by 1997 depends on employees agreeing to more flexible work hours.

The German mark’s strength this year and an engineering wage sector wage rise of about 4% has put added pressure on car makers to find ways to lower labor costs.

The German Auto Industry Federation has warned that German car makers and their suppliers will have moved a third of their production abroad by the end of the century.

It has said that unit wage costs among German car makers are 30% higher than, for example, France, and that Japanese and U.S. firms have a 40% cost advantage.

Working times in Germany are restricted, with little night or weekend work except in industries where equipment has to be kept running around the clock.