Tarifverhandlungen: IG Metall: VW plant Gehälter bis 2030 einzufrieren

The IG Metall labor union has warned that Volkswagen plans to freeze workers' salaries until 2030, according to an announcement on their website. The union reported that the European and World Works Council (EWKBR) informed employees about the company's plan, which was also covered by the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The company's management instructed personnel worldwide to maintain the current tariff level and suspend any wage increases through 2030, marking a departure from the previous practice of providing inflation adjustments and periodic tariff increases.

The IG Metall estimates that this approach could result in a minimum ten percent real wage loss for employees. Negotiations for a new collective agreement in the Volkswagen Group are expected to commence in late November, covering both the Group-wide tariff and the metal and electrical industry collective agreement, which includes Audi, MAN, and Porsche.

The union demands a five percent wage increase. The Works Council stressed that the company's management has shown an absence of consideration for the negotiating process. They reminded that personnel costs constitute only a small fraction of the company's revenue. The company's announcement came just a month after Volkswagen canceled almost all existing collective agreements.

The management plans to eliminate up to 50,000 positions globally in the coming years, in addition to previous downsizing efforts. Specific programs will be negotiated with the workforce in the future. Moreover, the fate of Volkswagen's works in Emden, Hannover, and Zwickau, as well as the Audi plant in Neckarsulm, remains uncertain until 2031-2034.

The 2024 collective bargaining negotiations already saw a wage freeze for 130,000 Volkswagen employees, similar to the situation in the metal and electrical industries.