Written by Christoph Steitz
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – When trade unions enter the ring with Volkswagen (ETR:) executives on Wednesday to fight job security and plant closures, it will be the toughest test yet for the auto industry's most powerful figure behind its CEO: Daniela. Cavallo.
But the 49-year-old Italian-German student will also prove to be a formidable opponent for management, having risen through the ranks to become the first female head of the company's works council, posing as the protector of the “Volkswagen family”.
The talks began less than a month after Volkswagen said it may close plants in Germany for the first time. That ended a two-year deal between unions and management, highlighting that while the conflict eased briefly under Cavallo and Volkswagen chief Oliver Blume, the industry's problems did not end.
“Unfortunately, I have to admit that this is the darkest day so far,” Cavallo said earlier this month, hours after Volkswagen told workers of plans to close plants and end long-standing job guarantees.
High energy and labor costs, as well as sluggish demand in Europe, have left executives with no choice but to take drastic measures, the company argued, breaking two barriers that Cavallo said marked a major cultural change at Europe's biggest car company.
His comments, according to two people familiar with the matter, reflect Cavallo's deep commitment to Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen, where he has spent his entire career, eventually becoming head of the works council in 2021.
They also show that the dispute is more than business for the Wolfsburg-born and raised worker – it has been a family affair since his father swapped southern Italy in 1969 to join the company.
Today, Cavallo, her husband and two sisters are all part of Volkswagen's estimated 680,000 employees worldwide, including 130,000 VW employees in Germany affected by the dispute.
'REASON TO FIGHT'
“All 130,000 workers have reason enough to fight,” Cavallo, one of the 20 members of Volkswagen's board of directors, told Reuters.
“But it's not just about our 130,000 colleagues. It's about their families, suppliers and service providers who are close to them and, finally, all the regions where the plants are located.”
Cavallo, who joined Volkswagen in 1994 to train as an office clerk, quickly caught the attention of rising union star Bernd Osterloh by helping to negotiate a few shifts at Auto 5000, a former division that did not enjoy the same benefits as VW workers.
Osterloh later became head of Volkswagen's works council, a position he held for 15 years, earning the nickname “King of Wolfsburg” as he used the historically significant power given to employees in the group to the full.
As Osterloh rose, so did Cavallo, who became the first member of the Wolfsburg works council to take maternity leave, previously considered an outlier in the often male-dominated field.
“He is not one to do things rashly, but he is organized,” said one of these people. “That doesn't mean he doesn't work well. When it comes to business, he's as tough as he is.”
In fact, Cavallo is known for his patience but insistence on sticking to the point, the people said.
When Volkswagen was negotiating an electric mobility deal in 2016, Cavallo insisted that jobs could only be cut if there was concrete evidence that they were no longer needed, which increased the level of layoffs.
Whether he succeeds in avoiding the closure of plants, the red line he drew before the talks, may also depend on how he uses his most powerful weapon – strikes – which could, in theory, take place from December 1.
