VW terminates collective agreements: Terminations doable from July 2025 | EUROtoday

The announcement sparked main protests among the many workforce, and now Volkswagen is making it a actuality. The struggling automobile firm has terminated the job safety that has been in place for many years.

Volkswagen has carried out the introduced termination of the job safety that has been in place since 1994. The corresponding letter of termination has been despatched to the union, Europe's largest automobile producer introduced. The contract will subsequently expire on the finish of the yr. The new financial savings plans have sparked plenty of criticism from employees, unions and politicians.

Dismissals for operational causes are solely doable six months after the expiry of the settlement, i.e. from July 2025. In addition to the employment safety settlement, different agreements have additionally been terminated, together with the assure of employment for trainees and the rules for momentary employment.

Renegotiation introduced

The group now desires to barter new guidelines with the works council and the union, introduced Human Resources Director Gunnar Kilian. The goal is to agree on a follow-up association earlier than the job safety expires in mid-2025. Joint options are wanted to make Volkswagen “sustainably competitive and fit for the future”.

The collective bargaining negotiations on the VW wage settlement, which had been initially solely deliberate to start in October, are to be introduced ahead and prolonged to the contracts which have now been terminated. This was beforehand proposed by IG Metall. “The current phase is contributing to uncertainty. We can counteract this if we create future-proof prospects for our company in a timely manner,” mentioned Kilian.

Works Council Chair reaffirms resistance

Every week in the past, Volkswagen introduced that it might finish the job assure that had been in place for 30 years and that it might now not rule out plant closures. The works council and IG Metall have been up in arms towards the plans ever since.

Works council chairwoman Daniela Cavallo reiterated her opposition to the plans: “We will defend ourselves fiercely against this historic attack on our jobs. There will be no compulsory redundancies under our leadership.”

Relapse into outdated collective settlement threatens

If an settlement can’t be reached by June 2025, Volkswagen faces vital price will increase. According to IG Metall negotiator Thorsten Gröger, the rationale for that is that if the collective agreements are terminated, the settlement that was in pressure earlier than 1994 will come into pressure once more. This offers, amongst different issues, for longer working hours with full wage compensation, extra breaks or increased bonuses for extra time and Saturday work.