VW Managers Offer Wage Freeze

Volkswagen, Europe's leading carmaker, said Friday that its executives were prepared to accept a two-year wage freeze if employees also agreed to make the same sacrifice in order to help cut costs. "A wage freeze would concern every body," VW said in a statement. On Monday, VW announced that in upcoming pay talks due to start next month it would seek a two-year wage freeze and increased flexibility of working hours for its 100,000-plus employees in Germany in a move to slash labor costs by 30 percent by 2011. VW executives have already said the performance-related component of their salaries would be cut by more than 25 percent this year. (AFP)