In the struggle over the new savings plans at VW, the company and the union are meeting for the first time today for negotiations. Both sides want to meet in Hanover from 11 a.m., as VW and the union announced. The positions are far apart.
While VW is pushing for savings in personnel costs, the IG Metall Prevent cuts. “We cannot talk about factory closures and mass layoffs,” Lower Saxony’s IG Metall district manager Thorsten Gröger made clear before the negotiations. Works council boss Daniela Cavallo (49), who sits at the negotiating table for IG Metall, had previously described both as clear red lines.
The collective bargaining round, which was actually only planned for the end of October, was brought forward after VW tightened its austerity measures at the beginning of the month. Instead of just wages, the employment security that VW terminated should also be negotiated. Initially only the approximately 120,000 employees in the six large West German plants that are covered by the VW company tariff are affected. VW Sachsen has its own regulations. VW also canceled job security there yesterday.
IG Metall is demanding concrete savings plans from VW
IG Metall called on VW to first put concrete savings plans on the table so that negotiations could begin. So far, apart from the termination of several collective agreements, there are no details about possible layoffs and factory closures. VW is now “pouring additional fuel on the fire,” criticized Gröger. Instead, what is needed is “a viable future concept for all locations” that does not involve factory closures or mass layoffs.
In the wage round that is also taking place, IG Metall is demanding seven percent more wages for the industry and also at VW. There shouldn’t be any compromises for VW here either. Strikes would also be possible from December. Then VW’s peace obligation ends.
VW is hoping for concessions
VW CEO Oliver Blume (56), on the other hand, is pushing for concessions from IG Metall: “I expect significant movement there to make progress on the cost side,” he said on ZDF on Monday. At the same time he emphasized: “We will be here Germany also fight for every job, that is very clear. But the basis for this is that we can significantly reduce costs across all areas.” The aim is to reach an agreement by the end of the year.
At the beginning of the month, the group made austerity measures for its core brand Volkswagen tightened and the employment security that has been in place for 30 years was terminated. According to research by manager magazin Up to 30,000 jobs could be lost in the medium term
. The closure of entire plants is no longer ruled out. According to CFO Arno Antlitz, the group is missing sales for around two plants. VW also wants to reduce the pay of temporary workers and take on fewer trainees.
Negotiations under time pressure
Both sides are under time pressure in the talks: If no agreement is reached, the job guarantee would also eliminate the concessions made by the workforce that were agreed upon 30 years ago, such as the waiver of vacation and Christmas bonuses. Instead of saving, it would actually become more expensive for VW, criticizes IG Metall. VW has already threatened that in this case “compulsory dismissals cannot be ruled out”. This would be possible after a transition period of six months from July 2025.