Auto industry
VW collective bargaining dispute: marathon negotiations continue
In the collective bargaining dispute at VW, the positions are still far apart. Now both sides are continuing their last attempt at agreement before Christmas.
The potentially decisive round of negotiations in the collective bargaining dispute at Volkswagen is entering the second day. In Hanover, VW and IG Metall want to continue the talks they started on Monday at 10 a.m. this morning. With the 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.
Around 70 representatives of the company and IG Metall met in Hanover on Monday for their fifth round of collective bargaining, which was scheduled to last two days. They ended the first day of negotiations shortly after midnight after 13 hours of talks. Both sides had previously expressed the desire to reach an agreement before Christmas. Two days were therefore set aside for what was probably the last round of negotiations before Christmas.
Agreement before Christmas as a goal
“We can’t let any more time pass,” said VW negotiator Arne Meiswinkel at the start of the talks. Works council boss Daniela Cavallo explained: “We don’t want to go on Christmas vacation with this uncertainty, with the fear of whether there will be redundancies here for operational reasons or whether there will be site closures.”
Due to the group’s difficult situation, Volkswagen is demanding a further 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. VW rejected IG Metall’s offer to forgo paying a wage increase as insufficient.
IG Metall, on the other hand, demands the preservation of all locations and an employment guarantee for the approximately 130,000 employees. She rejects permanent cuts in monthly wages. These are the “red lines” that should not be crossed, said Gröger. VW has to move here, otherwise there will be no compromise.
This time no warning strikes
Unlike the previous collective bargaining a week ago, this time there are no work stoppages at VW. 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. According to IG Metall, it is impossible to estimate how long the talks will last. If there is no rapprochement again at the end of the marathon negotiations, the union is already threatening to expand the industrial action. There is a risk of massive escalation in 2025, said Gröger.
dpa
Source: Stern
