An announcement before dawn on Friday morning confirmed that Audi Brussels management and unions have come to an agreement that will see the Forest factory resume production next Tuesday.
Peter D'hoore, director of external communication at Audi Brussels, said "an agreement has been reached between management and social partners concerning the voluntary restart of our plant. Specifically, this means we will resume operations from Tuesday 17 September."
The announcement came at 05:30 on Friday morning, as D'hoore thanked "all those involved" in "constructive dialogue" this week. Facilitated by a federal mediator, a conciliation meeting between Audi Brussels management and unions had been ongoing since Thursday afternoon at the Employment Ministry.
Unions confirmed that a resolution was finally reached following overnight negotiations. "After more than 15 hours of negotiations with management in conciliation at the Employment Ministry, we have an agreement," said Ludovic Pineur, Permanent Secretary of CNE Industry.
As part of the agreement, staff will be fully paid for this week (from Monday 9 September). Tensions flared on Monday when staff arrived to the Forest site to work but found the doors locked. Payment for this week became a key demand from unions during negotiations, as they even threatened legal action against Audi Brussels.
D'Hoore confirmed that the production at the site will resume in two phases: "From Tuesday, we will produce in the bodywork and painting departments and send cars to our distributors. From Wednesday 18 September, we will resume production in all departments."
'Good compromise'
For unionist Jan Baetens of ACV-Metea, this is a "good compromise" that should provide relief to those on the ground and the ongoing negotiations regarding the plant's future. He also believes the "chances of success are positive."
While production is set to resume next week, the future of the car factory and some 3,000 jobs still hang in the balance.
Following the initial announcement in July that Audi Brussels was "restructuring" operations at the site, last week it was confirmed that the carmaker has no long-term plans to produce cars there.
For the approximately 3,000 workers, the hope is now that a buyer will be found, although there is no guarantee that a new investor would retain all jobs at the plant.
