Volkswagen is heading for a labor dispute before Christmas in a dispute with its workforce over billions in savings. IG Metall negotiator Thorsten Gröger said on Thursday in Wolfsburg that the union is now proposing a vote on warning strikes from December 1st. “If necessary, it will be a labor dispute that the Federal Republic has not experienced in decades,” said the trade unionist after the end of the third round of negotiations in the collective bargaining dispute. Pressure from the workforce is necessary to overcome the gap that still exists between the company’s ideas and what the employees have to offer.
“Unfortunately, apart from inquiries about our concepts and the willingness to continue negotiations based on the concept, we have not heard from the other side what they are prepared to contribute in terms of distance,” emphasized Gröger. Both sides have agreed on December 9th as the next date for negotiations. Before the talks, Gröger stated that the goal was to conclude a collective agreement before Christmas.
According to the union, around 7,000 VW employees came to a rally in front of the football stadium before the third round of negotiations in the Volkswagen Arena. Many took time off for this. Employees from all VW locations in Germany gathered here; some of them had taken buses to Wolfsburg early in the morning. They held up self-painted IG Metall posters and flags, lit red Bengalo fires and fired red streamer cannons. They made their displeasure known with drums, whistles and loud horns. “Future instead of clear-cutting” was demanded on banners, and “All works must remain”. With a view to possible warning strikes, chants chanted: “We are ready.”
“This is just a foretaste of what will happen from December if the company does not take our concrete proposed solutions seriously,” said works council boss Daniela Cavallo (49), referring to the end of the peace obligation at Volkswagen at the end of November.
Gröger said it was a “demonstration of poverty that the best-paid executives in the Republic have not yet shown any way without closures, without mass layoffs, without entire regions being very worried.” The union submitted a proposal that would save 1.5 billion euros in labor costs.
Employees with their own plans for the future
IG Metall and the works council had their own plan for the future of VW on Wednesday presented. They are offering to put the next tariff increase into a future fund for a limited time and not pay it out for the time being. However, the prerequisite would be that the current pilot agreement for the metal and electrical industry, which provides for an increase of 5.1 percent in two stages, would be adopted in the current collective bargaining round regarding the VW in-house tariff.
Volkswagen has so far refused any increase and is instead demanding a 10 percent wage cut. The company reacted cautiously to IG Metall’s offer on Wednesday. The concrete proposals now have to be evaluated financially. During the collective bargaining round, they wanted to “enter into a more detailed exchange”. However, the company is sticking to its financial goals. Therefore, plant closures cannot be ruled out.