View of the Volkswagen Osnabrück GmbH plant.
Friso Gentsch | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Volkswagen announced sweeping changes to its German operations, including much than 35,000 aboriginal occupation cuts and capableness reductions successful a past gasp woody betwixt Europe's apical carmaker and unions connected Friday to avert wide strikes.
The statement was nevertheless hailed arsenic a "Christmas miracle" by national leaders aft 70 hours of grueling negotiations, the longest successful the company's 87-year history, arsenic determination would beryllium nary contiguous tract closures, layoffs oregon wage cuts.
Volkswagen has been successful talks with national representatives since September implicit measures it says are indispensable for it to vie with cheaper Chinese rivals, lackluster request successful Europe and slower-than-expected adoption of electrical vehicles.
Around 100,000 workers person already staged 2 abstracted strikes successful the past month, the largest successful Volkswagen's 87-year history, protesting against plans to chopped wages, trim capableness and perchance unopen German plants for the archetypal time.
"After agelong and intensive negotiations, the statement is an important awesome for the aboriginal viability of the Volkswagen brand," radical CEO Oliver Blume said successful a statement.
VW said the woody would let savings of 15 cardinal euros annually successful the mean word and saw nary important interaction connected its 2024 guidance. It said it was looking into alternate options for its Dresden works and repurposing the Osnabrueck site. Some accumulation would beryllium shifted to Mexico.
Thorsten Gröger (M), District Manager of IG Metall successful Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Daniela Cavallo, Chairwoman of the General and Group Works Council of Volkswagen AG, and Jan Mentrup, Press Spokesman for IG Metall successful Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, marque a property connection pursuing corporate bargaining negotiations with Volkswagen successful the Wyndham Hannover Atrium.
Moritz Frankenberg | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
IG Metall said a 5% wage summation agreed successful November would beryllium suspended and conveyance accumulation would unopen astatine the Dresden works by the extremity of 2025.
"No tract volition beryllium closed, nary 1 volition beryllium laid disconnected for operational reasons and our institution wage statement volition beryllium secured for the agelong term," said works assembly main Daniela Cavallo.
"With this triple deal, we person achieved a rock-solid solution nether the astir hard economical conditions," she said.
The 5th circular of negotiations has been nether mode since Monday and continued heavy into the nighttime astatine a edifice successful Hanover this week, with negotiators lone taking abbreviated breaks to slumber and fueling up connected coffee, curried sausage and fruit.
Campaign issue
The talks took spot successful a dated no-frills concern edifice connected the outskirts of Hanover, wherever delegates from some sides met successful assorted rounds that were astatine times interrupted by abbreviated breaks during which they stocked up connected java and effect good aft midnight.
Some workers adjacent played a circular of cards to decompress.
The situation astatine VW has deed astatine a clip of uncertainty and governmental upheaval successful Europe's largest economy, arsenic good arsenic wider turmoil among the region's automakers.
How to hole Germany's sluggish maturation has taken halfway signifier arsenic a run contented up of a drawback predetermination successful February, portion Chancellor Olaf Scholz, trailing successful the polls, has urged VW to support each its factories open.
English (US)