reached an agreement this Friday with the powerful metallurgy union, after more than 70 hours of negotiations and days of massive strikes, which involves reversing its plans to close some of its factories in Germany or carry out forced layoffs. . In exchange, the German automobile giant will eliminate 35,000 jobs by 2030 in a “socially responsible” manner. Volkswagen’s workforce exceeds 600,000 workers worldwide.
The chief negotiator of IG Metall, Thorsten Gröger, has highlighted the “painful contributions of the employees”, although he has valued the “perspectives” that the pact creates for the workforce. As Gröger explained in the press conference after the meeting this Friday, this is an agreement that puts an end to “. With two red lines that the workers have managed to maintain: no factories will close and there will be no mandatory mass layoffs.
The Wolfsburg-based company commits not to lay off any employees for operational reasons until at least 2030. In other words: it will not force anyone to leave their job against their will, but will encourage their departure with monetary incentives through compensation or helping to find work in other companies or through retirements. In exchange, workers will forgo wage increases in the coming years and bonuses will be reduced.
“We have managed to find a solution for Volkswagen plant employees that secures jobs, safeguards products in the plants and, at the same time, allows for significant investments in the future,” Gröger emphasized. “With this we demonstrate, contrary to the dominant current in many boards of directors, that future solutions are possible without massive layoffs.”
“No center will be closed, no one will be laid off and our company salary agreement will be guaranteed in the long term. With this triad, we have achieved a rock-solid solution in the most difficult economic conditions,” added Daniela Cavallo, president of the Volkswagen works council.
The management of the automotive giant has emphasized, for its part, that it has managed to achieve three of its goals: reduce labor costs, bring development costs to a competitive level and reduce excess capacity in German plants. “These are difficult decisions, but they also set the course for the future,” said the group’s Chief Operating Officer, Thomas Schäfer, in a press conference. “This will lay the foundations for Volkswagen to become the leading manufacturer in technological volume by 2030, with a clear commitment to Germany as a business location.”
Until the end of the negotiation, the main points of contention were the plant closures, mandatory layoffs and the 10% salary cut sought by the executives of the automobile group, to which, in addition to Volkswagen itself, other brands such as Audi belong. , Seat, Cupra or Skoda. The employers insisted again and again that the results had to be “sustainable”, that is, not limited to saving money for one or two years and rejected the plans presented in November by IG Metall and the works council with which they intended to save 1.5 billion euros, for example, through a salary freeze, limited to two years.
The benefits of Volkswagen. A setback, largely due to the advance of the electric car, which has led the company to seek a considerable reduction in its personnel costs. In the specific case of Germany, the current 5.5% wage increase in the metallurgical industry will not apply to its employees for six years. Instead, this money will be used to fund reduced hours in factories with less workloads.
The commitment has been preceded by a true negotiating marathon. According to IG Metall, the longest round of collective bargaining ever held at Volkswagen. The talks didn’t even last that long in the 1990s, when the automaker was in the red and had to reduce work hours to four days a week.
