VW workers stage protest as managers and unions hold talks

Industrial relations remain tense at Volkswagen where the management’s plan of implementing drastic cost-cutting measures is clashing with union demands, including a 7% pay rise.

Both sides met at Hanover’s Herrenhausen Palace on Wednesday, where collective bargaining negotiations turned into talks about strict austerity measures.

Ahead of the talks, chief negotiator Daniela Cavallo, head of Volkswagen Group (VW) Works Council said talks over job security were “non-negotiable”.

Arne Meiswinkel, VW’s chief negotiator put the company’s viewpoint across, saying: “The situation at our home location in Germany is very serious.”

He went on: “Today, in the first round, we are assessing the initial situation. We are committed to Germany as a business location and to industrial jobs. However, this requires a high level of competitiveness.”

Management has rejected demands from Germany’s largest union, IG Metall, with Meiswinkel saying: “We need sustained cost reductions and a future-proof structure for the working conditions covered by our collective bargaining agreement.”

He said that car makers had to reduce labour costs in Germany and use temporary workers.

“We can only maintain our top position and safeguard jobs in the long term if we work more economically … which cannot be achieved without a contribution from the workforce,” he said.

After the three-hour talks ended, IG Metall negotiator Daniel Friedrich said: “Our demands and arguments have been known for months.

“It is a pity that the employers did not present an offer today. We expect them to enter into serious negotiations quickly and to present employees with a substantial offer in the second round of negotiations.”

Volkswagen’s collective bargaining agreement applies to around 120,000 workers at the plants in Wolfsburg, Braunschweig, Hanover, Salzgitter, Emden and Kassel.

As Euronews Business reported previously, the car maker has been hit hard by higher manufacturing costs, declining sales in Europe and fierce competition in key market China. The disappointing sales of EV vehicles has also proved costly to the car manufacturer.

Earlier this month, VW denied a report that some 30,000 jobs were at risk but revealed it was considering various cost-cutting measures. These include an end to a three-decade-old job protection pledge that would have banned the cuts until 2029.

The car maker is also reported, for the first time in its 87-year history, to be considering closing plants in Germany. 

Following the shock announcements, negotiations on a new pay deal were brought forward with the first round of talks lasting for three hours. No agreement was reached.