VW workers’ union threatens to go on strike after talks fail

A labour union at German carmaker Volkswagen has threatened to go on strike in December after negotiations with management over proposed drastic cost-cutting measures collapsed.

The threat comes after parties held their third round of talks on Thursday without reaching an agreement, amid protests at the firm’s headquarters in Wolfsburg.

“It [the strike] will be on a scale that will make it very clear to the company that we, as IG Metall and the Volkswagen workforce, are serious,” said union official Thorsten Groger.

The IG Metall labour union-imposed deadline is now less than ten days away, and the strikes may be held across several German production plants on 1 December. 

Unions’ propose pay cuts to keep VW afloat

Earlier this week, the workers announced that they were willing to accept pay reductions so that the company could continue to keep plants open and avoid mass layoffs. 

They proposed creating a fund worth roughly 1.5 billion euros by declining parts of wages for two years (2025 and 2026) in return for the planned closure of plants and massive layoffs.

According to the workers’ council, this plan put forward by Volkswagen’s employees was to facilitate a mutually beneficial and sustainable solution that would not harm worker livelihoods while also cutting the company’s losses. 

The talks involve about 120,000 of Volkswagen’s employees in Germany, almost half of the total workforce in the country, which amounts to approximately 300,000. 

Around 7,000 workers demonstrated at Thursday’s meeting venue in Wolfsburg to press their demands.

Volkswagen, as well as several other European car makers, has been struggling financially amid a drop in demand in Europe and intensifying competition with Chinese electric vehicle makers.

The carmaker has had no domestic closures in its 87-year history, making the looming closures unprecedented.