Labor court allows AfD-affiliated association Zentrum to advertise at VW subsidiary

The social shift to the right is also affecting companies, driven, among other things, by the AfD-affiliated Center Association. He has now fought in court to be able to assert employee representation rights at a VW subsidiary Group Services plant in Lower Saxony. This core demand of the association was granted in the appeal process, said a spokesman for the State Labor Court in Hanover.

After the decision, members of the center who are employed by the VW subsidiary will be allowed to advertise in and in front of the company, distribute leaflets and try to recruit members. However, the court rejected the request to elect shop stewards there. Shop stewards are voluntary representatives of a union who help with communication between the workforce and the union.

Center is not eligible for tariffs

The Zentrum association, which describes itself as an “alternative union,” wants to become active at VW Group Services at the Isenbüttel location (Gifhorn district) and is demanding access to the company in order to do so. Volkswagen refused this, citing a lack of tariff eligibility. Therefore, the association cannot rely on the special legal rights of a union. In the first instance, the Braunschweig Labor Court dismissed the lawsuit.

With the decision, the center succeeded in enforcing one of its main concerns against VW, said chairman Oliver Hilburger. The court granted the association the right to advertise the organization in and in front of the company. The question of the choice of shop stewards in the company is of secondary interest.

In a reaction, the VW subsidiary welcomed the clarification of the open questions. The decision will be respected. Both sides want to examine an appeal, which the state labor court allowed with its ruling.

Read more about the start of Center at VW here: There is a risk of a shift to the right in this Volkswagen factory