Collective bargaining conflict at Volkswagen: jobs secured until 2030!

Collective bargaining conflict at Volkswagen: jobs secured until 2030!

In a huge marathon of negotiations, IG Metall and Volkswagen have reached a groundbreaking collective agreement that not only secures the jobs of thousands of employees, but also offers a clear perspective for the future of the entire group of companies. On July 1, 2025, the fate of around 55,000 jobs was up in the air as the VW board planned massive layoffs. This would not only have threatened the existence of entire families, but would also have had far-reaching consequences with the loss of central collective agreements that have existed for over 30 years. This meant that the negotiating situation was tense and the union threatened an intensified industrial action if an agreement was not reached by Christmas. But as igmetall-salzgitter-peine.de reports, we can now breathe a sigh of relief.

After more than 70 hours of intensive negotiations, a comprehensive agreement was finally reached. This includes an agreement that excludes redundancies until the end of 2030, while ensuring that no factory closures take place. The future therefore looks more secure because employees do not have to worry about their jobs until this date. The agreement ensures planning security and gives employees the opportunity to concentrate on new developments in the company.

Details of the agreement

Numerous important points were established in the negotiations. These include:

• Keine betriebsbedingten Kündigungen bis Ende 2030
• Keine Werksschließungen
• Keine Kürzung des monatlichen Grundentgelts
• Sozialverträglicher Abbau von mehr als 35.000 Stellen bis 2030

Particularly noteworthy is Volkswagen's giving in, whose original plans called for massive job cuts and plant closures. The employees also contributed their part to the agreement by forgoing wage increases in the coming years and bonuses were reduced. IG Metall viewed this as “painful contributions from the employees,” but they were necessary to create prospects. At the same time, it was agreed that those affected would find socially acceptable solutions in two plants, Dresden and Osnabrück. Vehicle production in Dresden will stop at the end of 2025, production in Osnabrück will end in late summer 2027.

A future-proof basis for Volkswagen

The collective bargaining committee of IG Metall unanimously approved the result and sees the agreement as a foundation for sustainable investments in the future of Volkswagen. In this context, the collective agreement also allows the upcoming wage increases to be initially suspended until November 2024 in order to be able to finance excess personnel without layoffs. However, from January 2031 there will be a 5 percent increase in the pay scale, which offers employees a positive prospect of financial improvements.

As zdfheute.de reports, both the works council head and the VW brand boss see the collective agreement as an important decision for the future of the company. Prime Minister Stephan Weil expressed relief, but pointed out that there was no reason for euphoria due to the planned job losses.

With the conclusion of the collective agreement by December 31, 2026, a clear foundation has been laid to continue to use production sites and models, such as the ID. Golf and ID. Buzz, set. As we can see, Volkswagen's development is well underway and employees will continue to play a central role in this process.