Dusseldorf. It is the next test of strength between management and employees at VW: As the Handelsblatt learned from negotiating circles, representatives of the company, IG Metall and the works council are scheduled to meet in Hanover on September 30th for the so-called review meeting.
The main issue is whether and how Volkswagen will continue to comply with the promises made in its current collective agreement from December 2024. The meeting is scheduled for the morning in a hotel near the exhibition center in the south of the Lower Saxony state capital.
The location and date of the important conversation were not yet known. However, it was clear that the meeting had to take place this quarter and therefore by the end of September. Neither Volkswagen, IG Metall nor the works council wanted to comment on the appointment when asked.
In mid-September, IG Metall and the works council had drawn the so-called revision clause of the contract and thus forced the conversation. The group had previously presented even more stringent austerity measures. The contract obliges both sides to hold a review meeting upon request. The fact that employee representatives of all people are using the instrument shows how great the distrust of the board of directors now is among IG Metall and the works council.
Thorsten Gröger, district manager of IG Metall Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, is expected on the union side. On behalf of VW's employees, group works council chief Daniela Cavallo is expected to come to Hanover for talks. The company will probably again be represented by Arne Meiswinkel as human resources manager for the core brand. This brings together the actors who had already negotiated the laborious compromise of 2024.
At that time there were significant cuts for employees. A wage increase agreed in the metal and electrical industry was postponed at VW until 2031, and there were also cuts in special payments and profit sharing. In return, Volkswagen ruled out operational layoffs until the end of 2030 and agreed on prospects for its German locations. After a collective bargaining dispute with warning strikes, this compromise was intended to ensure peace in the company.
“The concessions made by the workforce from the 2024 dispute did not come for free, they were made in confidence in the promises,” Volkswagen’s employee boss Cavallo recently said. “Therefore, we expect these agreements to stand.”
Up to 60,000 additional jobs in the group are at risk. In 2024, VW had already decided to cut 50,000 jobs in the group in a socially acceptable manner, 35,000 of them in the German Volkswagen AG.
Production capacities in Europe are also expected to fall by a further 500,000 vehicles per year. According to a draft resolution available to the Handelsblatt, no “competitive subsequent occupancy” can be guaranteed for Emden, Zwickau and Hanover in the current planning from 2031 to 2034. A concept for the future production structure should be available by the end of June 2027.
The Audi Neckarsulm plant is also affected by the open subsequent occupancy; However, it does not fall under the VW company tariff, which is what the conversation is about.
From IG Metall's perspective, the future collective agreement cannot be terminated easily. In particular, the job security at VW cannot be terminated until the end of 2030 at the earliest. On September 30th, the main focus will therefore be on which commitments from the agreement the company continues to stand by and, in particular, what will become of the commitments for the three VW plants at risk.
In addition to the ID.7 and the revised ID.4, a decision on another model was promised for Emden in 2024. In Hanover, among other things, the ID. Buzz, the Multivan and the Space family offer a perspective. Zwickau should remain a location for electric cars and receive additional tasks in the circular economy. The employee representatives want to know which of these plans are still valid, which have changed and how Volkswagen wants to replace the lost occupancy.
Volkswagen points to a changed economic environment and believes further savings are necessary. The group only recently had to cancel its forecast for the current year due to several special effects. From IG Metall's perspective, key risks, such as the weaker European car market and the problems in China, were already known at the end of 2024.
The review meeting is far from reaching an agreement. If the collective bargaining parties do not come to a common conclusion, they can appeal to an arbitration board according to the revision clause.
Meanwhile, the next pay round is getting closer. IG Metall is demanding five percent more money for a twelve-month period for the approximately 130,000 employees in the VW company tariff and a social component for lower wage groups. There is no trial date yet.
