Stockholm - Heavy-vehicle maker Scania is mulling wage cuts to avert job losses in the wake of weaker demand for trucks because of the financial crisis, Swedish radio news reported Thursday.

Management and unions have not launched formal negotiations, but the company has previously scrapped some bonus payments and has let 2,000 temporary employees go.

Scania spokesman Erik Ljungberg said options being studied included the agreement signed last month between the blue collar union IF Metall and the Association of Swedish Engineering Industries that allows pay cuts of up to 20 per cent in return for not firing workers.

IF Metall comprises the Swedish Industrial Workers' and the Swedish Metal Workers' Union, while the association of engineering industries groups some 3,400 engineering companies.

"This agreement is something we will look in to if the turnaround drags on. But then it should comprise all employees, including union workers, white collar workers and management," Ljungberg said.

Ljungberg noted that "white collar workers do not usually have set hours but work until they have completed a task" making a deal more tricky to achieve.

Other measures in place at Scania include offering training to production workers.

When IF Metall announced the agreement in March, union leader Stefan Lofven said it offered better terms than being fired and receiving dole payments, worth only 50-60 per cent of a salary including overtime.

Another Swedish vehicle maker, Volvo Cars, which is owned by US group Ford, in March agreed on a cost-saving package with local unions to postpone salary revisions for 2009.

Top management would reduce their salaries by 5 per cent from April to December.

"We are in an extreme situation with a continuing weak global market for new cars, especially in the US and Sweden, and we need to take action to further reduce our costs," Volvo Cars chief executive Stephen Odell said at the time. (dpa)