2024-09-26 19:05:25
Drums, sirens, Bengalos: VW employees are taking to the streets against the company’s austerity plans. This is causing unrest in the industry.
There is a mood of crisis in Wolfsburg: Volkswagen has canceled the employment guarantee for employees, plant closures and layoffs are on the horizon. The staff was initially shocked, but now it sounds more like anger. According to IG Metall, more than 3,000 employees in Hanover protested against the austerity measures on Wednesday with whistles and bengal fires.
“Volkswagen doesn’t just belong to the shareholders! Volkswagen also belongs to us. The workforce,” said works council chairwoman Daniela Cavallo at the rally to kick off collective bargaining.
The collective bargaining negotiations were actually scheduled for the end of October, but were brought forward in view of the crisis. In addition to the wage increase, there are now also other issues such as job security, trainees and temporary workers. In addition, IG Metall is sticking to its industry demand of seven percent more wages and 170 euros more for trainees.
In addition to profitability, VW has always been about securing employment, says Cavallo. This is part of Volkswagen’s DNA. Now the management team is “using factory closures as a threat” and frightening the workforce with headlines about mass layoffs.
But the seriousness with which not only the company itself, but also experts and politicians are currently talking about the condition of the Wolfsburg-based group, gives rise to fears that it is at least not just a threat. Because while VW has reported meager results as successes and steps in the right direction in recent years, the company has now changed course: “Volkswagen produces too expensively in Germany,” is the clear statement.
Previous cost reductions were not enough, said CEO Oliver Blume at the beginning of September. “My colleagues, VW boss Thomas Schäfer and Thomas Schmall, are therefore working with their teams on further measures.” Accordingly, savings must be made; One measure is the termination of the company collective agreements, which expire in mid-2025. But it is precisely the resulting uncertainty that is now driving the workforce onto the streets and the politicians to the negotiating table.
Meanwhile, the corporate side is appealing for understanding. Before collective bargaining began, leaflets were distributed at six locations in which the company called on the workforce to make concessions. “Volkswagen produces too expensively in Germany” is written on the paper, which is available to t-online. The campaign took place at the locations Wolfsburg, Hanover, Braunschweig, Salzgitter, Emden and Kassel.
The problems that the group was heading into were no surprise to industry experts, such as the President of the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). “I’m surprised at everyone who is surprised,” says Hildegard Müller in an interview with t-online. From their perspective, the current crisis also depends on a number of political decisions regarding bureaucracy, energy prices and high taxes. “We have been pointing out for a long time that the German automotive industry is absolutely competitive, but the German location has not been for a long time,” said Müller.
There is also strong competition, especially in the electric car sector from China. Manufacturers there are bringing significantly more models onto the market at affordable prices. Car expert Ferdinand Dudenhöfer warned at the beginning of September: “Europe is falling increasingly behind China in developing climate-friendly mobility.”
The European Union also accuses the Chinese government of distorting the market through state subsidies and has recently imposed countervailing duties. A measure that German car manufacturers in particular view critically as they fear for their own market access in China.
It’s not just VW that feels this. Other German car manufacturers are also struggling with falling sales. BMW and Mercedes recently revised their profit expectations downwards. According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), only 27,024 cars with electric drives were registered in August. That was 68.8 percent less than a year earlier and around 12 percent less than in July. But the crisis doesn’t just affect electric cars: the number of total registrations also fell by 27.8 percent to 197,322 cars.