Strikes Fourth round of collective bargaining at Volkswagen postponed without agreement
In Wolfsburg, the collective bargaining negotiations at Volkswagen, which were accompanied by demonstrations and rallies, came to an end without a result. After seven hours of negotiations, IG Metall chief negotiator Thorsten Gröger spoke of a "constructive climate for talks".
10.12.2024, 01:45
SDA
However, he also emphasized the widely divergent positions: "For IG Metall, the decisive factor is that a solution must be found without site closures and compulsory redundancies," he said. VW chief negotiator Arne Meiswinkel also spoke of "constructive talks", but at the same time explained that the parties were still "a long way" from a "viable solution".
Thousands of employees at nine VW plants across Germany walked off the job on Monday in protest against the company's planned austerity measures. IG Metall boss Christiane Benner held out the prospect of extending the industrial action: "If nothing moves, it will get really uncomfortable," she said in Wolfsburg.
38,000 employees take part in the warning strikes
According to the union, 38,000 employees took part in the warning strikes in the VW city alone. In Kassel, Hanover, Zwickau, Emden, Salzgitter, Brunswick, Chemnitz and Dresden, a further 30,000 workers joined the strikes. Only the VW plant in Osnabrück did not go on strike because a different collective agreement applies there.
In the nine VW plants with IG Metall's in-house collective agreement, the assembly lines were shut down for around four hours, with the early shift collectively stopping work earlier, according to the union. According to IG Metall, further walkouts were to take place in the late and night shifts.
The first day of warning strikes took place last Monday when the peace obligation expired at the beginning of December. According to the union, around 100,000 employees took part.
Collective bargaining is proving difficult. Although the fourth round of negotiations did not result in a breakthrough, it was "possible for the first time" for IG Metall and the company to "constructively discuss the key collective bargaining issues", the union explained.
Wage cuts are up for debate
Following a slump in profits, Volkswagen has announced a tough austerity program with job cuts and plant closures. Significant wage cuts are also under discussion. The company points out that costs at the production site in Germany are too high by international standards. Various VW representatives have repeatedly emphasized that they consider cuts such as plant closures to be unavoidable.
Above all, the employees want to prevent job losses. They presented a "plan for the future", which envisages that a salary increase still to be negotiated will not be paid out, but will instead flow into a fund to finance any necessary cuts in working hours.
Meiswinkel had emphasized that the proposal from IG Metall and the works council was "not enough for a sustainable solution". More savings must be made.
On Monday, Daniela Cavallo, head of the VW Works Council, reiterated her categorical rejection of mass redundancies and plant closures. In terms of pay, there should be "no harsh cuts to our company wage agreement that would permanently reduce its level". After the negotiations, she explained that there was still "a long way to go" before a possible rapprochement could be reached. "We are ready to consistently continue on the constructive path we have now embarked on next week," Cavallo stated.
According to the union, negotiations will continue on December 16 and 17.
