Car industry Warning strikes threatened at Volkswagen from December

At Volkswagen, there is a threat of industrial action in December in the dispute over billions in cuts. After three rounds of negotiations, there are still no signs of a solution to the wage dispute.

The IG Metall union is now preparing for warning strikes from December, said chief negotiator Thorsten Gröger on Thursday after five hours of negotiations in Wolfsburg.

However, the wage talks have not failed, according to both sides. They are to be continued on December 9. However, the difference between the positions is "still huge", said Gröger. Plant closures and mass redundancies are still not off the table. Therefore, pressure on VW must now be increased.

The plan is to call warning strikes at VW locations from December 1, when the peace obligation at VW ends, said Gröger. "If necessary, it will be a labor dispute the likes of which Germany has not seen for decades."

Protest rally in Wolfsburg

Even before the collective bargaining round, thousands had protested loudly against the cost-cutting plans outside the negotiating hall. IG Metall spoke of more than 7,000 participants who had come to Wolfsburg from all ten German VW plants in Lower Saxony, Hesse and Saxony.

"This is just a foretaste of what will happen from December onwards if the company does not take our concrete proposals for solutions seriously," said Works Council Chairwoman Daniela Cavallo. Banners demanded, among other things, "Future instead of cutbacks" and "All plants must remain".

Before the third round of negotiations, Gröger had spoken of a very last chance for Volkswagen "to find a good solution before the end of the peace period that does not involve plant closures and mass redundancies". He hopes for an agreement before Christmas. But for this to happen, VW would have to move.

VW wants to examine IG Metall concept

During the collective bargaining round, both sides also discussed the future concept of IG Metall and the Works Council, which aims to reduce costs without plant closures and redundancies. VW was open to talks based on the proposals.

The union and works council had presented their own plan for the future of VW on Wednesday. According to IG Metall, this should result in a total of 1.5 billion euros in savings on labor costs alone. Possible wage increases for 2025 and 2026 are not to be paid out, but are to flow into a fund for flexible working time reductions.

According to Gröger, this goes to the limit of what is reasonable for the workforce. In return, IG Metall and the works council are demanding a waiver of plant closures and compulsory redundancies. The Management Board and shareholders would also have to make a contribution. Otherwise, according to Cavallo, there will be no contribution from the employees.

VW demands "minus round"

However, the prerequisite would be that VW adopts the latest pilot agreement for the metal and electrical industry in the current collective bargaining round for the company wage agreement, which provides for an increase of 5.1 percent in two stages. However, this does not automatically apply to VW, which pays according to the company wage agreement. And Volkswagen has so far rejected any increase and is instead demanding a "minus round": wages at VW that are above the industry rate are to be cut by ten percent across the board.

With regard to plant closures and compulsory redundancies, VW has recently signaled that it is willing to discuss solutions that do not involve redundancies or plant closures. However, only if the savings targets set by VW are nevertheless achieved.

The core brand Volkswagen has been struggling with high costs and weak returns for years. The cost-cutting measures are intended to increase the core brand's return to 6.5 percent by 2026. VW justifies this primarily with the upcoming investments, for example for new electric models, which have to be financed.

SDA