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The works council and IG Metall warn of escalation at VW
Outrage in Wolfsburg: VW is cutting at least three plants and tens of thousands of jobs. The IG Metall union sees the plans as “in no way acceptable”.
The dispute over billions in savings at Volkswagen is escalating. At an information event in Wolfsburg in front of hundreds of employees, VW works council head Daniela Cavallo threatened to break off the talks and accused VW management of starving the locations in Germany. “The board is against us,” she said. He not only terminated contracts, but also everything that the culture at Volkswagen stands for. “And he’s playing heavily with the risk that everything will soon escalate here. And by that I mean that we break off the discussions and do what a workforce has to do when they fear for their existence.”
IG Metall also tightened its tone. “These rabid plans by the board are in no way acceptable and a break with everything we have experienced in the company in recent decades,” said IG Metall negotiator Thorsten Gröger. The union expects that instead of VW’s clear-cutting fantasies, viable future concepts will be presented at the negotiating table. “If VW confirms its dystopian path on Wednesday, the board must expect the corresponding consequences from us.” Both sides will meet on Wednesday for the second round of ongoing collective bargaining.
“We can’t carry on like this”
The company explained that the board had identified solutions that would make the company financially robust for the future and ultimately secure jobs. Given the shrinking market, plant closures can no longer be ruled out without active countermeasures. VW brand CEO Thomas Schäfer said the costs of the German plants were a quarter to half higher than what the company had planned. “We cannot continue as before. We must quickly find a common and sustainable solution for the future of our company.” Volkswagen will make concrete proposals to reduce labor costs on Wednesday.
Both sides agree that Volkswagen is currently in trouble. The company points to the shrunken European market, which is currently lacking two million cars annually – of which VW accounts for around 500,000. The return is well below the target of 6.5 percent.
“We have serious problems. We have to address them at Volkswagen,” said Cavallo. According to her, management and workers are not far apart when it comes to analyzing the problems, but they are miles apart when it comes to the answer. “And these problems are also an issue for politics,” she said. “She has to finally wake up too.” It is not enough to say that you are on the side of the workforce. “We need a comprehensive plan from politicians on how electromobility can finally get off the ground. And I say: we also need a master plan for Germany as an industrial location.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has already sided with the workforce. It is the Chancellor’s opinion that “possible wrong management decisions from the past must not be to the detriment of the employees,” said a government spokesman. It’s about “preserving and securing jobs.”
Permanent ten percent lower wages at VW
According to the works council, Volkswagen wants to close at least three plants in Germany, putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk. The remaining locations should be shrunk by removing products, quantities, shifts and entire assembly lines. The remaining employees would also have to prepare for significant salary losses: VW management should permanently demand ten percent less monthly wages, two zero rounds in 2025 and 2026 and the end of allowances and bonuses.
Works council leader Cavallo spoke of starvation. “This is the plan of the largest German industrial group to start the sell-off in its home country of Germany. It is the firm intention to let the production regions bleed dry. And it is the clear intention to send tens of thousands of Volkswagen employees into mass unemployment.”
The works council chief referred in particular to the factory in Osnabrück, from which Porsche recently took the order for the electric 718. “The board does not stick to agreements, even those from the planning round, the value of which cannot be higher here in the group,” she criticized. Orders for the 718 Cayman and Boxster sports car models are currently being processed in Osnabrück, which go beyond the production capacities at Porsche’s main plant in Stuttgart Zuffenhausen. The models and the VW vehicle T-Roc Cabrio will expire in spring 2026 – from then on the Osnabrück factory will no longer have any orders.
This article first appeared at ntv.de
Source: Stern
