Volkswagen in Germany has rejected union demands over wage and factory guarantees after the first round of collective bargaining negotiations ended without a deal.
IG Metall and VW are negotiating new labor agreements for the 130,000 employees of core brand VW in Germany. This month, the group ended agreements that had secured jobs at six of its plants in Germany for decades.
Workers at VW have threatened strike action in response to warnings from VW that it may need to close factories in Germany as part of cost-cutting measures to make the company more competitive against rival OEMs with much lower cost bases.
IG Metall has been threatening strikes since the beginning of December and is also demanding a 7% wage increase.
Arne Meiswinkel, chief negotiator for Volkswagen AG, said: “We must secure Volkswagen’s long-term viability and competitiveness. To do this, we must reduce costs. Now is the time to take groundbreaking action together.”
During the negotiations, Arne Meiswinkel rejected IG Metall’s demands for factory guarantees and said: “We can only make Volkswagen future-proof if we are competitive. To achieve this, we need continued cost reductions and a future-proof structure for the employment conditions covered by our collective bargaining agreement.
“We also need to reduce our labor costs in Germany. Only if we work more economically can we maintain our leading position and secure jobs in the long term. One thing presupposes the other and cannot be achieved without a contribution from the workforce. In the upcoming collective labor agreement negotiation process, we will therefore look for solutions that strengthen both the company and the workforce in the long term. As parties to the collective labor agreement, we must work together to shape the future viability of the company and secure it in the long term.”
“VW rejects union demands over potential plant closures” was originally created and published by Just Cara brand of GlobalData.
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