FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Volkswagen and the IG Metall union will negotiate a new labor deal at six German plants from the end of September, replacing a deal that included crucial job security guarantees that Volkswagen management scrapped earlier this week.
The decision to bring forward these negotiations comes in a very tense context: the leading European car manufacturer has provoked strong disagreements with workers by mentioning, for the first time in its history, possible factory closures in Germany.
The group is looking to cut costs in the face of growing competition.
Talks between Volkswagen and Germany’s most powerful union will begin on September 25, about a month ahead of schedule, Volkswagen’s works council – the body representing its employees – said in a statement Thursday.
The works council called Volkswagen’s decision to scrap a decades-old job guarantee at the six plants, which led to the early negotiations, an “unprecedented attack.”
“The upcoming negotiations appear to be so complex in view of the numerous layoffs carried out by Volkswagen that lengthy discussions can be expected,” the works council said.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; by Florence Loève, edited by Kate Entringer)
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