IG Metall prepares for tough negotiations at Volkswagen as the automotive corporation embarks on a new cost-cutting course. District manager Thorsten Gröger warns of a "tough confrontation", with the upcoming collective bargaining round in the second half of the year at Europe's largest automaker. The recent announcements regarding the performance program further complicate the situation.
Gröger emphasizes that the union has positively influenced the working conditions of employees, particularly in regard to the topic of partial retirement. However, VW "stood firm until the end" in the last collective bargaining round in 2022. The peace obligation ends at the end of November and negotiations will begin in the second half of the year. Cross-industry wage negotiations will be challenging.
Difficult negotiations are also expected in the entire metal and electrical industry, as the inflation of the last year and a half has eroded the good wage settlements of the past. While inflation may have declined in the meantime, prices have not. This leads to a higher potential for conflict. However, the transformation of the economy towards climate neutrality presents the greatest challenge. The necessary adaptation of industrial society is immense and requires billions.
At the same time, there must be a perspective for employment and locations in order to win over employees for this change process. Gröger expresses concern about the budget crisis in Berlin and fears that cost-cutting measures could endanger necessary future investments.
Unexpected production outage at VW plant in Emden. Farmer protests surprisingly led to a production stop at the Volkswagen plant in Emden. A company spokeswoman confirmed that the production came to a halt due to blocked access roads to the plant, preventing employees from coming to work.
Production of combustion engine models was affected, while production of electric cars is set to resume only after the Christmas holidays. The exact number of affected employees is unknown.
Production should resume on Tuesday.
The preferred shares of VW temporarily dropped by 0.19 percent to 113.04 euros on XETRA.
