Klaus Volkert

Klaus Volkert (born November 24, 1942 in Braunschweig ) is a German trade unionist and member of IG Metall . The long-time chairman of the works council of Volkswagen (VW) became known for his involvement in the VW corruption affair , whereupon he was sentenced to two years and nine months imprisonment by the Braunschweig regional court .

Life

Volkert began his professional career with an apprenticeship as a blacksmith . In 1969 he worked as a mechanic for VW in Wolfsburg , and just one year later he became a shop steward for IG Metall. In 1978 he was elected to the VW works council for the first time. In 1990 Volkert became chairman of the works council of Volkswagen AG. In the same year he also became a member of the VW supervisory board. As Chairman of the Works Council, he was also a founding member of the Volkswagen Europe Group Works Council, of which he became President in 1992. He was also a founding member of the Volkswagen Group Works Council, which he became President in 1999.

As chairman of the works council, he primarily helped to create new concepts for securing jobs that attracted nationwide attention. In 1993, for example, the “four-day week” was introduced, during which the VW employees involved waived around 15% of their wages, thereby safeguarding 30,000 jobs. In 2001 the project " 5000 times 5000 " was introduced at VW . This meant that 5,000 new hires were possible well below the IG Metall VW in-house tariff, and production of the new VW Touran remained in Germany (Wolfsburg plant).

On June 30, 2005, Volkert surprisingly resigned from his position as Chairman of the General Works Council of VW AG. At this time there were discussions about a possible involvement of Volkert in the VW affair, this was denied by VW and IG Metall. According to press reports, VW employees had previously accused him of being too close to VW board members.

VW affair

In July 2005, a bribery affair in the VW group became known, which initially revolved around corruption at the VW subsidiary Škoda . A manager of the subsidiary had concluded supply contracts with companies in which he himself was involved (front companies). Volkert is also said to have been involved. The affair soon expanded to include favors and pleasure trips designed to encourage works council members to behave well. VW board member Peter Hartz was also involved .

Investigations were finally initiated against Hartz and Volkert on suspicion of breach of trust or aiding and abetting. On January 25, 2007, Peter Hartz was sentenced to a suspended sentence of two years and a fine of 576,000 euros (equivalent to 360 daily rates of 1,600 euros). Volkert is said to have received so-called special bonus payments of around 1.95 million euros through Peter Hartz from 1994 to 2005 in addition to his salary, without this having been disclosed to VW. In the period between 2000 and 2004, Peter Hartz is said to have approved cash payments of almost 400,000 euros as expenses for “works council projects” to Volkert's long-time lover, the Brazilian Adriana Barros.

Due to the risk of obscuration , the Braunschweig public prosecutor finally obtained an arrest warrant against Volkert on November 21, 2006 . Against Volkert and his lawyer Peter-Michael Diestel allegations were made that they had promised the former Hartz employee and witness Klaus-Joachim Gebauer financial support if he weakened his earlier statements. On December 12, 2006, Volkert's arrest warrant was overturned. There is no further risk of obscuration, since Volkert has made a credible, comprehensive confession before the investigating judge. On February 22, 2008, Volkert was sentenced to 2 years and 9 months imprisonment for aiding and abetting and incitement to breach of trust. The Federal Court of Justice in Leipzig rejected the application for an appeal on September 17, 2009 as unfounded; the judgments against Volkert and Gebauer thus became final . Volkert was released early from prison on September 2, 2011 - after 21 months.

Private

Volkert is married and has one adult child.

Prizes and awards

Volkert holds the Lower Saxony Order of Merit and the Federal Cross of Merit . In December 2009 Volkert waived the honorary doctorate awarded to him in 2002 by the TU Braunschweig in writing due to his final conviction to the said prison sentence and after the TU had initiated a withdrawal procedure.

literature

• Rainer Dombois: The VW Affair - Lesson on the Risks of German Co-Management? In: Industrial Relations , Vol. 16/2009, H. 3, pp. 207-231.

See also

• Co-Manager (Works Council)

Individual evidence

1. ^ LG Braunschweig, judgment of February 22, 2008, Az. 6 KLs 20/07, full text .
2. ^ "A blatant case of two-class justice" sueddeutsche.de, February 22, 2008
3. ↑ The new VW Touran is made by people who were unemployed. , berliner-zeitung.de, February 19, 2003.
4. ^ Klaus Volkert - employee representatives with managerial allure , Die Welt Online, July 5, 2005.
5. ↑ Ex-works council Volkert arrested , Der Spiegel .
6. ↑ NDR : ( Page no longer online  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )  
7. ↑ In: Everyone benefited . In: Der Spiegel . No. 9 , 2008 ( online - February 25, 2008 ).
8. ^ BGH, decision of September 17, 2009, Az. 5 StR 521/08, full text .
9. ^ Former head of the VW works council has to go to prison , spiegel.de, September 17, 2009
10. ↑ Chairman of the VW Group Works Council receives Order of Merit - In: Internet portal Autokiste
11. ↑ Successful social concepts for the global corporation: Honorary doctorate for Klaus Volkert
12. ↑ Klaus Volkert is no longer an honorary doctor , Braunschweiger Zeitung of December 21, 2009