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Wolfsburg, Germany – VW bosses are calling for a 10% pay cut and doing away with various bonuses and allowances as they respond to disappointing financial results, worsened by stiff competition in China and the shift to electric vehicles.
Plant closures and compulsory redundancies at the core VW brand are also on the table as company and union representatives prepare to meet on Monday. It is the fifth round of talks and due to last two days.
“We are prepared to reach agreement before the end of the year,” IG Metall chief negotiator Thorsten Gröger said in a statement.
“Either the course is set in the right direction by the company shortly before Christmas, or there will be a massive escalation in 2025,” he said.
The union has already called rolling strikes which led tens of thousands of workers to walk off the job.
IG Metall, Germany’s largest trade union, is demanding that all production sites be retained and wants a guarantee of employment for VW’s 130,000 employees.
“A good solution is only one that creates future perspectives for all production sites and the workers in the regions,” Gröger said. He rejected long-term cuts to pay.
Both sides reported constructive talks for the first time following the fourth round of talks on Monday this week, but the two sides remain far apart.
They are now meeting in a Hanover hotel and not at VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, where earlier rounds were accompanied by protests and short-term strikes.
