In the dispute over possible job cuts Volkswagen VW and the union want it IG Metall now look for a solution at the negotiating table. Both sides want to meet for the first time in Hanover for negotiations on September 25th, as the company and the union announced. The collective bargaining round, which was actually only planned for October, will therefore be brought forward. In addition to the regular wage round, the employment security recently terminated by VW should also be negotiated.
VW announced at the beginning of September that it would tighten its savings plans due to the tense situation and is closing Layoffs and factory closures are no longer possible
. The employment security that has been in effect since 1994 has been terminated, as has the job security guarantee for trainees and remuneration rules for temporary workers. If there is no agreement with the union on new regulations by mid-2025, VW is threatening layoffs.
Protest against board plans
The employee representatives announced tough negotiations. “We will make it clear in the negotiations: we will not have any factory closures or mass layoffs. If necessary, tens of thousands of colleagues will support this emphatically,” said Lower Saxony’s IG Metall district manager Thorsten Gröger, on whose initiative the collective bargaining round was brought forward.
Works council boss Daniela Cavallo (49), who will be at the negotiating table, had previously stated clear red lines: the works council will not accept redundancies and plant closures for operational reasons, said Cavallo. Last week, employees protested against the board’s plans in several works meetings at all VW locations in Germany.
A separate company tariff applies to the 120,000 VW employees in Germany. Until now, this was only negotiated shortly after the collective bargaining round for the entire metal and electrical industry. In Lower Saxony, negotiations on the industry tariff begin this Thursday in Hanover. IG Metall is demanding 7 percent more wages for the industry and also for Volkswagen.