Volkswagen workers across Germany began striking on Monday after union leaders and management failed to reach an agreement on cost-cutting measures at the carmaker.
The warning strikes—temporary work stoppages aimed at pressuring management during stalled negotiations—are taking place at all but one of Volkswagen’s German plants, including its flagship electric vehicle (EV) factory in Saxony.
“If necessary, this will be the toughest collective bargaining battle Volkswagen has ever seen,” said Thorsten Gröger, IG Metall’s chief negotiator for the VW talks, addressing workers at a rally.
“Volkswagen has set fire to our collective agreements,” Gröger added, accusing management of exacerbating the dispute.
The labor conflict centers on diverging strategies to address critical challenges such as declining demand for electric vehicles, rising operating costs, and increased competition from Chinese automakers.
Volkswagen’s corporate governance structure complicates unilateral decision-making. Workers hold half the seats on the company’s supervisory board, while the state of Lower Saxony, VW’s home region, has two additional seats. This setup grants labor representatives major influence over key decisions.
At VW’s main Wolfsburg plant, employees have walked off the job or ended their night shifts early to participate in a rally outside management offices. Daniela Cavallo, head of the works council, is scheduled to address the gathering.
The last company-wide strike occurred during the 2021 pandemic. Prior to that, a larger work stoppage in 2018 saw over 50,000 workers at six plants strike during wage negotiations.
On Sunday, a Volkswagen spokesperson expressed a desire for “constructive dialogue” to find a “mutually supported solution.” The company also announced it had taken special measures to mitigate the impact of the planned strikes.
However, Volkswagen rejected IG Metall’s latest cost-saving proposals on Friday, calling them insufficient to prevent plant closures.
