Car manufacturer in crisis: Volkswagen terminates numerous company collective agreements

Volkswagen wants to terminate ten of its company collective agreements, including the collective agreement that regulates, among other things, the working hours of the almost 100,000 VW employees in Germany. SPIEGEL learned this from employee circles. The terminations should be submitted on Wednesday. The union and the works council announced resistance to the car manufacturer's plan. This affects, for example, the collectively agreed additional remuneration, in which employees can choose between six additional days off and a payment of 27.5 percent of a monthly income. In addition, agreements on other allowances or training could be affected.

The employer side led by negotiator Arne Meiswinkel did not initially provide any details, explained IG Metall. The terminations sought by the board could take effect from January 2027 at the earliest. The meeting on Wednesday was originally planned as a review discussion on the collective bargaining compromise from 2024, which envisaged massive job cuts and in return the waiver of compulsory layoffs until 2030 and investments in the plants. This is not affected by the terminations.

“This is a bad foul on the workforce and another shameless attempt to reach into the employees’ wallets,” explained IG Metall district boss and negotiator Thorsten Gröger. The union will not accept that business costs and risks should be shifted to the workforce while profits are privatized. Works council boss Daniela Cavallo spoke of blackmail and announced resistance to the move. “I expect a heated argument at the turn of the year.” Then the peace obligation in the collective wage agreement, which has also been terminated, ends – strikes would then be possible.