FRANKFURT/BERLIN, April 23 (Reuters) - Volkswagen labour representatives and the German state of Lower Saxony, a major shareholder, stuck with a decision on Thursday to back Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn in a leadership crisis that started earlier this month.
Senior supervisory board members on April 17 backed Winterkorn, rebuffing a challenge by Chairman Ferdinand Piech patriarch of the family that founded Europe's largest automaker.
"For us, last week's decision remains valid," German daily Bild quoted works council chief Bernd Osterloh, the influential head of VW's works council, as saying.
The state of Lower Saxony, which holds 20 percent of voting rights in Volkswagen, said last week's decision remained the basis of premier Stephan Weil's actions. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan and Andreas Cremer; editing by Thomas Atkins)