The VW Group is terminating ten collective agreements as part of its austerity measures. This is a serious blow for the employees. However, it does not mean that the regulations contained therein will immediately disappear.
The conflict over the tightened austerity measures at VW is entering the next round: The car manufacturer wants to save costs - and has therefore terminated a number of collective agreements. They should be renegotiated. A tough labor dispute is looming in the winter - and cuts for employees. The most important questions and answers:
How many collective agreements has VW terminated?
According to IG Metall, a total of ten collective agreements have been terminated - and thus a large part. A company spokesman declined to comment on the exact number. The core of the VW in-house tariff consists of around a dozen individual contracts.
What is regulated in these contracts?
The collective agreement bundles, among other things, rules on working hours and vacation. According to IG Metall, it also contains protective rights for older employees and people who can no longer carry out their previous job for health reasons. Other contracts regulate, for example, the classification into salary groups as well as allowances and additional remuneration. The terminated sections of the collective training agreement concern the taking on of trainees and dual students. It is still unclear which changes Volkswagen specifically wants to implement.
Which employees are affected?
It's about the employees of Volkswagen AG in Germany. These include the Volkswagen passenger car and commercial vehicle brands, the components division and central corporate divisions. The company tariff at Volkswagen applies to around 130,000 employees in Germany. VW subsidiaries such as Audi or the sports car manufacturer Porsche are not affected by the move.
What can change for you - and when?
The contracts are terminated on December 31, 2026. But: Not all of the regulations contained therein will disappear immediately. VW and IG Metall point to the legal repercussions. The specific cuts depend on negotiations anyway. However, the union emphasizes: “If the board got its way, the employees would feel this in their income from January 2027.” It's about concrete financial losses.
Aren't such dismissals normal before a collective bargaining round?
Terminating collective agreements at the end of their term is not unusual. This allows the parties to negotiate new rules. What is striking, however, is the scope. In the 2024 collective bargaining round, Volkswagen terminated significantly fewer collective agreements. The collective collective agreement also remained untouched.
What does Volkswagen want to achieve with this step?
VW reportedly wants to improve its competitiveness and reduce costs. From the company's perspective, various regulations in these contracts need to be adjusted in view of the current cost pressure, it said. The termination opens a room for negotiation. The aim is to consistently implement previously agreed measures and to fully exploit all other options for socially acceptable staff reductions.
According to the Volkswagen brand's HR director, Arne Meiswinkel, the economic environment has become seriously worse for the auto industry and thus also for VW. "These market changes are structural and profound. Among other things, Chinese manufacturers are pushing into Europe with cheap exports," he said. According to him, the measures from the 2030 future plan must be implemented quickly and consistently.
Are there a risk of longer working hours?
Possibly. There is already a debate among other car manufacturers about a 40-hour week without wage compensation. According to dpa information, VW management also sees longer working hours as an opportunity to reduce costs. There is no concrete demand yet. However, the topic could come to the table at a later date, company circles said. VW employees in Germany currently have a 35-hour week.
Will anything change in terms of job security?
No. The future collective agreement 2024, which stipulates job security until the end of 2030, is not affected. Terminations for operational reasons are therefore still excluded. But that doesn't mean that no jobs will be lost: in 2024, a socially acceptable reduction of 35,000 jobs in Germany by 2030 was agreed. It should take place, for example, through partial retirement and severance payments.
What do IG Metall and the works council say about the layoffs?
According to the employees, VW management is questioning key collective bargaining agreements. “This is a bad foul on the workforce and another shameless attempt to reach into the employees’ wallets,” said Lower Saxony’s IG Metall boss Thorsten Gröger. VW is trying to unload the group's economic challenges on those who kept the company running every day. "While profits are being privatized, entrepreneurial costs and risks should now be shifted to the workforce. We will not tolerate that."
VW general works council head Daniela Cavallo accused the management of an attempt at blackmail: First, plants were threatened with closure - in order to then be able to implement the next tariff cuts.
