In the dispute over possible job cuts and plant closures Volkswagen Europe’s largest car manufacturer is increasing the pressure. Before the start of collective bargaining negotiations with the IG Metall On Wednesday, the company asked the workforce to make concessions via a leaflet. “We have to increase productivity. We need to reduce our labor costs,” says the paper distributed at six locations, which the news agencies have obtained.
The goal is to get back to the top. The economic situation has worsened significantly. Two million fewer vehicles are sold per year on the European car market than before the corona pandemic. And the location Germany fall behind in terms of competitiveness: “Volkswagen produces too expensively in Germany.” Ultimately, more people would come to the table who wanted to get a piece of the cake. VW did not make any statements about specific savings measures.
The action in Wolfsburg, Hanover, Braunschweig, Salzgitter, Emden and Kassel takes place one day before the start of collective bargaining negotiations with IG Metall. This should not only be about the wage tariff, but also about the agreements recently terminated by VW to secure employment, take on trainees and pay temporary workers.
The company had recently terminated a number of collective agreements, including the agreement to secure locations that had been in effect for three decades. VW boss Oliver Blume (56) recently told ZDF that he was striving for a quick agreement on an austerity package. “Our goal is to put together a package there this year.” This includes all costs from development to production and sales.