Volkswagen unions signs off on company cutting thousands of jobs

OLFSBURG, Germany (WDEF) — After months of negotiations, Volkswagen AG announced on Friday a restructuring that could cut up to 30,000 jobs.

The move does not seem to have immediate fallout for their plant in Chattanooga.

The company has been negotiating with unions over that were trying to protect jobs in Germany.

They signed off on the deal to secure promises from VW that they would build electric cars and batteries in Germany.

The restructuring is, in-part, the company’s effort to overcome the emissions scandal by refocusing the brand on technology.

Two thirds of the job cuts will come in Germany, with only 7,000 coming abroad.

The job eliminations will come from natural attrition and early retirement.

During the process, company leaders have stood by their expansion of the Chattanooga plant to make a new Atlas SUV for the U.S. market.

And, in fact, Chattanooga is already benefiting from restructuring in North American operations that have relocated jobs from Detroit and Washington to here.

They have added more than a thousand employees in Chattanooga this year.