The company, which is part of Volkswagen subsidiary Traton, announced on Thursday that a framework agreement had been reached with the IG Metall union and the works council. According to the agreement, the plan to cut 2,300 jobs in Munich, Nuremberg, and Salzgitter over the next ten years remains in place. However, this reduction is to be achieved through natural attrition, such as retirements and staff turnover. Employment protection, with a ban on compulsory redundancies, will be in effect until the end of 2035 and can be extended to 2040 depending on business performance.
"This way, we are securing the jobs of our current employees for the future as well," said MAN CEO Alexander Vlaskamp. With the "MAN2030+" program, the company is responding to tougher competition, changing market conditions, and regulatory pressures such as stricter CO2 requirements. Costly severance programs for the employer are to be avoided. From the employees' perspective, it is the best possible compromise, added works council chairwoman Karina Schur. There will be no deterioration in collectively agreed terms; instead, employees will continue to receive above-tariff benefits and profit-sharing. "Moreover, we are securing the long-term future of the German sites."
The goal is to cut costs by around 900 million euros by 2028, mainly through savings on materials and overheads, but also through unspecified contributions from the workforce. In November, IG Metall had warned that about 3,000 jobs at MAN in Germany could be lost over ten years and criticized planned production shifts to Eastern Europe. The company stated that new hires would continue, so that by the mid-2030s, MAN would remain a major employer with about 13,000 employees.
MAN is sticking to its investments in the new Traton Modular System (TMS) in Eastern Europe. Another battery factory belonging to the Volkswagen Group is also to be located in the more cost-effective East. "It is regrettable that MAN was not willing throughout the negotiation process to reconsider its investment decisions for Eastern Europe," said Sibylle Wankel, head of IG Metall Munich. "And this despite the extensive contributions from employees that we put on the table."
(Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach and Rachel More, edited by Olaf Brenner. For questions, please contact the editorial management at frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)
