Auto industry: VW and IG Metall are attempting to reach an agreement before Christmas

The collective bargaining dispute at Volkswagen is entering the next round. VW and IG Metall are meeting in Hanover for what could be the decisive round of negotiations. With a two-day marathon of discussions, they want to try to resolve the dispute over wage cuts, factory closures and layoffs before Christmas. Both sides leave it open whether this will succeed. The positions are still far apart.

There has so far been no agreement on the matter: Due to the group’s difficult situation, Volkswagen is continuing to demand a ten percent pay cut from its employees and also wants to cancel various bonuses and allowances. Plant closures and redundancies for operational reasons are also still on the cards.

IG Metall, on the other hand, demands the preservation of all locations and an employment guarantee for the approximately 130,000 employees in Lower Saxony, Hesse and Saxony. She rejects permanent cuts in monthly wages. VW rejected IG Metall’s offer to forgo paying a wage increase as insufficient.

After the fourth round of negotiations last Monday, both sides reported constructive discussions for the first time. According to negotiating sources, this is the first time since talks began in September that serious negotiations have taken place, rather than simply exchanging deadlocked positions. However, neither side spoke of a real rapprochement afterwards. However, the content is still far apart.

“The atmosphere of our recent discussions can perhaps best be described as ‘conditionally open to action’,” said works council leader Daniela Cavallo. Volkswagen negotiator Arne Meiswinkel, HR director of the core VW brand, explained: “We are still a long way from a viable solution.”

IG Metall in particular is pushing for the dispute to be resolved quickly. “We are ready to come to an agreement this year,” said IG Metall negotiator Thorsten Gröger ahead of what is now the fifth round of negotiations. But the time for this is becoming increasingly scarce.

Two days were therefore set aside for what was probably the last round of negotiations before Christmas. “Now it means: Either the company will set the right course shortly before Christmas, or we will face a massive escalation in 2025,” said Gröger. The warning strikes at VW could then be significantly expanded.

IG Metall has already hit the car company with widespread warning strikes twice since the beginning of December, most recently parallel to the fourth round of collective bargaining a week ago. According to the union, around 100,000 employees at nine locations took part both times.

Unlike the previous rounds, this time both sides will not meet at the VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, but in a hotel in Hanover. The talks are scheduled to begin on Monday at 11 a.m., Tuesday is already scheduled as the second day of negotiations.