WOLFSBURG (dpa-AFX) - Applause for the IG Metall leadership, shouts of "boo" in the direction of the Volkswagen boardroom: accompanied by warning strikes and loud protests, the fourth round of collective bargaining at VW has begun. Employees at some of the carmaker's plants walked off the job, and tens of thousands came to the central protest rally right next to the boardroom, according to IG Metall. The wage talks began in the Volkswagen Arena in the afternoon after a considerable delay. They could drag on until late in the evening.

VW is demanding a ten percent pay cut from its employees due to the Group's difficult situation. Plant closures and compulsory redundancies are also on the table because Volkswagen is selling too few cars. However, IG Metall is demanding the retention of all sites and a job guarantee for the approximately 130,000 employees. The union rejects wage cuts.

Whistling in the direction of the Board of Management

She is "furious and stunned by the actions" of the Board of Management, said IG Metall Chairwoman Christiane Benner at the customer meeting. "Instead of intelligent solutions, they are offering cutbacks and job losses." The crisis is not the fault of the employees, but of many wrong management decisions. And these problems cannot be solved with plant closures, redundancies and wage cuts, says Benner.

The employees at the main plant, who had gone on warning strike in the morning, responded to the Group's cost-cutting plans with loud whistling and shouts in the direction of the management tower directly behind the stage. They shouted in a chant: "Ready to strike! Nationwide!"

Nine locations on warning strike

The protest was accompanied by the second nationwide warning strike at nine of VW's ten German sites. In addition to Wolfsburg, the plants in Zwickau, Hanover, Emden, Kassel-Baunatal, Braunschweig, Salzgitter and Chemnitz as well as the "Gläserne Manufaktur" in Dresden were also affected.

In contrast to the first strike last Monday, work on each shift was to be stopped for four hours instead of just two. According to IG Metall, 38,000 employees had taken part in the strike in Wolfsburg alone by the early afternoon.

Union made its own savings proposal

IG Metall had offered not to pay out a possible wage increase for the time being, but to put it into a future fund. It held out the prospect of a cost reduction of 1.5 billion euros for the Group. In return, VW was to refrain from plant closures and compulsory redundancies.

The employee side had taken a "giant step" towards the employers with its own savings proposal, explained IG Metall negotiator Thorsten Groger. "The company must now move towards IG Metall."

Group: find further savings potential

VW chief negotiator Arne Meiswinkel reiterated the Group's desire to make savings at the start of the fourth round of collective bargaining. "We still need cost reductions that can be implemented in the short term and are sustainable." The concept presented by the union in November was "not yet" sufficient. "That's why we need to find further potential today."

The rejection of the concept was therefore less harsh than before. Previously, VW had stated that the IG Metall offer was "far from sufficient" and would not bring any lasting relief.

Agreement before Christmas?

Both sides had stated several times beforehand that they would prefer to reach an agreement before Christmas. Should a rapprochement now be reached, this would still be possible, said Groger. IG Metall would then also be prepared to hold further negotiations this week and next. Otherwise, he has already threatened to extend the industrial action. "Then there will only be one answer to the austerity hammer in 2025: the strike hammer!"

According to IG Metall, almost 100,000 employees went on warning strike for two hours last Monday. This affected the same nine locations where the strike has now been called again. Only the plant in Osnabrück, which is worried about its future, is not covered by the in-house collective agreement that is currently being negotiated./fjo/DP/jha