I don’t understand what “Amnesty” would mean in this context.  We are used to <i>governments</i> offering amnesty, but that is specifically amnesty <i>from prosecution</i>, and a normal citizen does not otherwise have much interation with the state in their daily lives.  According to the article, VW workers are being offered amnesty from being “fired or [facing] damage claims”.  However, there are <i>very many ways</i> in which VW could make workers’ lives a living hell <i>without</i> firing them, since employees by definition interact with VW all day, every day.  VW would have to enumerate every one of those bad things they could do and promise not do it, which is, of course, impossible.  This feels like an empty promise.