IG Metall is demanding five percent more wages for VW employees amid the industry crisis

The crisis in the industry is hitting Volkswagen with full force: tens of thousands of jobs are being lost and plants are on the brink of collapse. Regardless, IG Metall is demanding more money for VW employees. After all, the company also paid out billions to shareholders.

IG Metall is demanding five percent more money for Volkswagen employees. The union announced that the collective bargaining committee had unanimously decided on the demand. The bonus should also apply to trainees. In addition, IG Metall demands a social component for the benefit of lower wage groups. The term should therefore be twelve months. According to the union, the company collective agreement applies to around 130,000 VW employees in Braunschweig, Chemnitz, Dresden, Emden, Hanover, Kassel, Salzgitter, Wolfsburg and Zwickau. Measured by the number of employees, it is considered one of the largest company collective agreements in Germany.

Lower Saxony's IG Metall district manager and VW negotiator Thorsten Gröger said: "We know that Volkswagen is facing major challenges. But the answer to this cannot be to play off the employees against the future of the company." They have already suffered significant cuts in recent years. At the same time, Volkswagen paid out billions to its shareholders. “We need a fair balance between the employees and the responsibility of the company and the owners,” said Gröger, according to the statement.

VW works council head and collective bargaining committee member Daniela Cavallo pointed out that employees under the company collective agreement last received more money in May 2024. “Since then, the prices of everyday life have been rising, from the supermarket to the gas pump to insurance rates. This is no different for our colleagues than for all other employees.” Now it's about demanding a fair share.

With this decision, the collective bargaining commission is following IG Metall's demands for a nationwide collective agreement in the metal and electrical industries. The company collective agreement at Volkswagen AG was terminated on December 31st. The peace obligation expires on January 1st, then warning strikes are possible. Whether these “become necessary will be decided by the course of the negotiations,” it said. According to IG Metall, there is no appointment with the company yet.

“This round of collective bargaining will be tough, and it will probably be more conflictual than the dispute in 2024,” said Gröger. At that time, IG Metall had brought production to a standstill several times with warning strikes. It was only shortly before Christmas that a compromise was reached after a lengthy marathon of negotiations. This envisaged the reduction of 35,000 jobs in Germany by 2030. In addition, bonus payments and allowances were cut and wage increases were put on hold. In return, VW will forego redundancies and plant closures for operational reasons - and promised investments and products for German plants.

The aim is to create binding perspectives

Agreements that the union sees in jeopardy in view of new austerity plans. The union therefore also wants to talk about the locations in this country: “For us, the collective bargaining round also includes the question of what industrial prospects all plants have beyond 2030,” said Gröger. The goal is binding perspectives.

The crisis in the industry is currently hitting Europe's largest car manufacturer with force: In order to become more robust and competitive, the company's board of directors wants to cut a further 50,000 jobs worldwide in the coming years. About half of them are in Germany. It is not yet publicly known how many of these will be eliminated at Volkswagen directly - and not at other counter brands. The plans still have to be negotiated with the employees anyway. The future of the VW plants in Emden, Hanover and Zwickau as well as the Audi site in Neckarsulm is also open.