Volkswagen and IG Metall have agreed on significant wage increases for the 125,000 employees in West Germany. Remuneration and training allowances will be increased by 5.2 percent from June 2023 and by a further 3.3 percent from May 2024, as both sides announced on Wednesday.
The term of the contract is two years. The result came one week before the end of the peace obligation in the third round of negotiations. Both sides had met in Langenhagen near Hanover for almost twelve hours.
New regulations for partial retirement
The employees will also receive a tax-free one-time payment of EUR 3,000 to compensate for inflation, which will be paid out in two stages in February 2023 (EUR 2,000) and in January 2024 (EUR 1,000). Trainees each get half. In addition, according to IG Metall, VW-specific new regulations for partial retirement, days off and university fees apply. The VW company tariff was negotiated for the core workforce at the Braunschweig, Emden, Hanover, Kassel, Salzgitter and Wolfsburg locations as well as some subsidiaries.
The car manufacturer and the union were satisfied. IG Metall had called for an 8 percent wage increase, but for a period of one year. The result of an increase in two steps that has now been achieved is based on the conclusion in the metal and electrical industry in the pilot district of Baden-Württemberg.
IG Metall negotiator Thorsten Gröger said: “All in all, we have put together a tariff package that is good and solid in historically difficult times.” The rally of more than 4,000 employees at the second hearing gave tailwind. “I don’t want to hide the fact that the argument wasn’t easy – that alone shows the extremely long negotiation time that night.”
The head of the VW general works council, Daniela Cavallo, said that the workforce was very satisfied with the result, especially with regard to partial retirement. This was the first reaction. The previous partial retirement regulations will be extended by five years until December 2027. “We managed to get a really solid deal in difficult times. Colleagues are quickly receiving noticeably more money,” emphasized Cavallo. She admitted that the term of two years was very long.
Planning security for employees
VW negotiator Arne Meiswinkel said the deal will create planning security and stability for employees and the company. However, the conclusion should not obscure the fact that costs must continue to be kept under strict control, emphasized the Executive Board. “This is the basic requirement to continue our transformation with the necessary speed to secure our competitiveness and jobs.”
According to VW, the 1,400 training places stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement will remain in place. According to the company, an important contribution to the transformation is the introduction of a new scholarship program, with which VW is turning to students with a bachelor’s degree for the first time. According to Meiswinkel, the “Volkswagen Master” is intended to recruit highly qualified young talents in the fields of digitization, software and batteries.
