IG Metall Accuses Volkswagen Board of Mishandling Cost-Cutting Debate

IG Metall says Volkswagen’s cost-cutting debate has become a conflict over trust, not just a dispute about savings.

Thorsten Gröger, the union’s district leader in Lower Saxony, criticized the board’s public handling of the crisis in an interview with the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. “The way the board is conducting the current debate is a disaster. This is not how you send positive signals to customers,” he said.

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The way the board is conducting the current debate is a disaster. This is not how you send positive signals to customers.

Gröger said Volkswagen’s product strategy appeared to be improving, but argued that management’s communication had undermined the relationship between the company and its workforce. He rejected the idea that the board had formally declared war on employees, while warning that “the signs point to conflict.”

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I would never say something like that, but the signs point to conflict.

The union leader said Volkswagen had traditionally treated profitability and secure employment as equal priorities. Questioning that balance, he said, risked provoking a confrontation that workers did not want but were preparing for.

The dispute intensified as CEO Oliver Blume announced a tougher savings drive. Employees now fear that tens of thousands of additional jobs could be affected, along with four complete sites in Germany. A works meeting in Hanover was scheduled to close a series of extraordinary meetings, the ninth and final gathering before possible new cost-cutting decisions. The report said the story would continue to be updated.

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If you fundamentally question that, it is clear that you are provoking a confrontation that we do not want. But, of course, we are preparing for it.