Strike at VW escalates: employees fight for their future!

Strike at VW escalates: employees fight for their future!

The collective bargaining conflict at Volkswagen continues to escalate! On Monday, December 10, 2024, a massive warning strike was called in several plants, including Baunatal, Kassel, and Wolfsburg. The industrial union IG Metall has asked employees to end their shift a total of four hours earlier in order to draw attention to the company's urgent savings plans. This one-day mobilization represents the second major action in a series of strikes, after 100,000 employees stopped work for two hours the previous week Mercury reported.

The background to the strike is the drastic demands for wage cuts from Volkswagen management, which include a reduction of around ten percent. This comes amid falling electric car sales and a tight financial situation that brings with it the possibility of factory closures and redundancies. IG Metall, on the other hand, is demanding that all locations be secured as well as an employment guarantee for the approximately 130,000 employees and vehemently rejects the proposed wage cuts. IG Metall chairwoman Christiane Brenner described the situation as “pissing off and stunned” and sharply criticized management for the current crisis, as well Hesse show reported.

Continuation of collective bargaining

However, the fourth round of collective bargaining, which took place on the same day, failed to produce an agreement. After more than six hours of discussions, people expressed optimism that a solution would be found before Christmas, but this hope is met with considerable resistance from employees. Thorsten Gröger, the district manager of IG Metall, made it clear that a lack of progress during collective bargaining negotiations could lead to a more intense conflict. The union has already considered an indefinite strike as a possible measure if negotiations continue to fail.