Thousands of Volkswagen workers across Germany escalated actions on December 9, staging warning strikes to protest the company’s plans for cost-cutting measures, including plant closures, wage reductions, and mass layoffs. The strikes come amidst ongoing negotiations between Volkswagen management and trade unions, with the stakes rising every day.
Volkswagen is looking to slash over €10 billion in costs, citing the need to “preserve competitiveness” in an ailing automotive industry. European automakers have struggled to keep up with the rise of electric vehicles, coming under pressure by more affordable Chinese imports. Instead of developing a strategy to preserve decent jobs, management is pointing fingers at high labor costs in Europe as the main culprit. In Belgium, the effects of this approach are already visible: an Audi factory specializing in electric vehicles, under Volkswagen’s umbrella, is set to close, potentially leaving thousands of workers unemployed.
Read more: Workers rally in Brussels against EU industrial failure
However, the real issue seems to not be China or “expensive” workers, but rather management’s unflinching devotion to dividends and bonuses. During recent negotiations, the trade union IG Metall and the workers’ council proposed an alternative plan to Volkswagen that would save €1.5 billion without resorting to layoffs or pay cuts. The catch? Shareholders and management would need to contribute to a solidarity fund, just as workers would.
“The burden of supporting future investments must not be passed unilaterally to the employees,” IG Metall’s Thorsten Gröger stated on Monday. “The board of directors and shareholders also have a duty to make their fair contribution.”
Volkswagen’s management admitted that the workers’ plan would generate savings but dismissed it on the grounds that it wouldn’t ensure long-term stability. As a result, bonuses and dividends are safe, at least for now, while workers are left grappling with uncertainty.
The stakes for the workers are high: Volkswagen employs some 300,000 people in Germany, and mass layoffs would add massive pressure in the existing climate of economic and political crisis in the leadup to a snap election scheduled for February 2025. IG Metall has warned that if a deal is not reached by the end of December, they are prepared to escalate actions. The strikes held so far have already mobilized over 100,000 workers, but union officials are convinced future mobilizations would bring many more to the streets.
Negotiations are set to resume on December 16 and 17, leaving little time to reach an agreement on time for the workers’ deadline.
