Volkswagen: No agreement with unions - strikes possible from December

Wages, mass redundancies and plant closures. This is what the Volkswagen Group and the IG Metall union have been talking about, but initial talks have found no common ground.

Both sides said they were far from a compromise, and while the Group is threatening to close some factories, workers are preparing for strikes starting on 1 December, the day after the expiry of the current labour contract.

No second round

The head of personnel and chief negotiator of the Volkswagen brand, Arne Meiswinkel, reiterated to Automotive News Europe that the division must cut costs in Germany to remain competitive."This will require a contribution from the employees", he said.

A date for a second round of talks has not yet been set and the group has reiterated that the closure of some factories is increasingly likely, as the plants are obsolete, according to the works council.

What the IG Metall union says

The union, which insists on a 7% wage increase, has stated that it will oppose compulsory redundancies and plant closures.

However, after talks with the company, works council chairwoman Daniela Cavallo had to admit that the labour representatives had not made any progress in their demands.

Meanwhile Stephan Weil, premier of Volkswagen's second largest shareholder, the state of Lower Saxony, criticised any prospect of plant closures and Oliver Blume, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, told the trade press that in the medium term a realistic solution could be to reduce the company's workforce by 30,000, or around 10 per cent of the total workforce in Germany.

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