“After today's round it is clear that we are still far from a solution,” Volkswagen's chief negotiator Arne Mieswinkel said after more than seven hours of talks.
But Labor representative Thorsten Groeger said it was the first time that talks had taken place in a “constructive environment” and that they were ready to return to the negotiating table on 16 December.
Earlier in the day, Groeger said that unless Monday's talks take an amicable approach, unions see no more room for negotiations this year and that they will escalate the strike to unprecedented levels in 2025.
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Still, unions remained adamant in saying they would refuse to close the plant, while the carmaker said it could not be ruled out, showing that the two parties are still far apart.
VW employees shut down equipment on Monday at nine German sites that are at risk, while thousands of workers marched waving flags and blowing whistles at a intersection in Wolfsburg, where the carmaker is headquartered, to hear union leaders .
The latest talks, which initially began in September, come as Europe's biggest carmaker looks for ways to drastically cut costs in Germany to better compete with cheaper Asian rivals that have entered its home market. Is searching.
The VW crisis comes at a time of uncertainty and political turmoil in Europe's largest economy, as well as widespread turmoil among the region's automakers. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is trailing in the polls ahead of the snap election, warned VW to close factories over the weekend.
The IG Metall union said some 68,000 workers on early and middle shifts in Wolfsburg went on strike for four hours, with late and night shifts still continuing.
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These strikes are already more widespread than the last round of major industrial action at VW in 2018, when more than 50,000 workers went on a so-called warning strike over pay at six sites.
IG Metall said there have never been any actual walkouts lasting 24 hours or more, beyond so-called “warning strikes”, which are marked in advance and carried out for limited periods.
The workers, who reject any cut in wages or plant closure, may eventually increase pressure on VW by holding a 24-hour strike and even an open strike.
In the 1970s, wage disputes would be settled at the last minute the night before a strike began.
cost cutting
Volkswagen says it needs to cut capacity and wages as demand for cars in Europe has fallen while costs in Germany have made it impossible to compete with new rivals.
“We need to reduce costs, reduce excess capacity,” Mieswinkel said ahead of the talks, which were taking place at the Volkswagen Arena where the VfL Wolfsburg Bundesliga team plays its football.
Thousands gathered, whistling, chanting slogans, criticizing management and chanting “Enough now! B2 is ready for battle!” from different parts of the company. Like there were signs.
CEO Oliver Blume last week defended Volkswagen Group's decisions in a rapidly changing environment, saying management cannot operate “in a fantasy world.”
Groeger urged VW to move toward a union position, warning Monday morning that the talks had destroyed confidence in the company among workers.
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“The board's behavior threatens to damage the VW brand and send the share price to rock bottom. This is the board's responsibility,” he said.
Volkswagen's stock is among the worst performers among European carmakers, falling nearly 25 percent this year.
Although the full impact of the strikes was not immediately clear, the union has said that several hundred cars were not built at the Wolfsburg plant alone as a result of the first round.
Automakers face increasing competition from China, where EV maker BYD recently said it hired nearly 200,000 new workers in car and component manufacturing between August and October.
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First publication date: 10 Dec 2024, 11:22 am IST
