IG Metall is calling for a second nationwide warning strike at Volkswagen on Monday. In parallel with the ongoing collective bargaining round, there will again be temporary work stoppages at all German VW locations except Osnabrück, the union announced. In Wolfsburg, where the fourth round of collective bargaining is taking place at Volkswagen, a protest rally is planned immediately before the start of negotiations. “Around 100,000 warning strikers sent a loud signal to the VW board at the beginning of December: future instead of clear-cutting!” said Lower Saxony’s IG Metall negotiator Thorsten Gröger with a view to the first warning strike earlier this week. “We will now step up on December 9th and thus increase the pressure on the company at the negotiating table.” Work should stop for four hours. Compared to the first warning strike, the strike should be expanded: instead of two, this time it should last four hours and again in every shift be repeated. In addition to Wolfsburg, Zwickau, Hanover, Emden, Kassel-Baunatal, Braunschweig, Salzgitter and Chemnitz as well as the “Gläserne Manufaktur” in Dresden are also affected. It starts in Wolfsburg at 10.30 a.m. Two hours later, the fourth round of negotiations on the VW company tariff begins in the Volkswagen Arena. In addition to negotiator Gröger and VW works council boss Daniela Cavallo, IG Metall chairwoman Christiane Benner is also scheduled to speak at the rally in front of the executive board building. Last Monday, almost 100,000 employees went on a warning strike for two hours. The same nine locations where a strike is now being called again were affected. According to IG Metall, 47,000 employees took part in Wolfsburg alone. Only the factory in Osnabrück is not covered by the company collective agreement that is currently being fought over. Hardened fronts In the collective bargaining dispute over wage cuts, factory closures and job cuts that has been going on since September, the fronts have hardened. At the works meeting on Wednesday, CEO Oliver Blume reaffirmed the austerity measures, but did not give any details about specific location closures. Gröger sharply criticized the CEO’s appearance. “It borders on mockery when Oliver Blume stands in front of the workforce and wishes them a merry Christmas, while at the same time the VW board would like to put letters of resignation under the employees’ Christmas tree,” he said, according to a statement. Cavallo had the top management against it asked to move away from their maximum demands. Factory closures, mass layoffs and cuts in monthly wages would still be out of the question for employees. She now expects the next round of negotiations to set the course: there will either be a rapprochement or further escalation.VW wants to cut wages. The conflict is about the pay of around 120,000 employees in the Volkswagen AG plants, where their own in-house tariff applies. In addition, there are more than 10,000 employees at VW Sachsen, for whom an adjustment to the company wage agreement was agreed in 2021. More on the subject VW has so far rejected any increase and is instead demanding a ten percent wage cut due to the group’s difficult situation. Plant closures and layoffs for operational reasons are also on the table. The job security was terminated. According to the works council, at least three plants and tens of thousands of jobs are at risk. VW justifies the cuts with high costs and low utilization. In view of the weak demand for new cars, VW has to increase its savings efforts. According to the works council, it’s about five billion euros that the group wants to save additionally.
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