DistantNews
Support us
🇦🇹 Austria /Economy & Trade

IG Metall Chief Accuses Volkswagen CEO of Serious Mistakes

From Die Presse · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • IG Metall leader Christiane Benner accused Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume of violating workforce agreements and mishandling plans for plant closures.
  • Benner said the union would oppose closures at plants in Emden, Zwickau, Hannover and Audi’s Neckarsulm site at an upcoming supervisory board meeting.
  • Volkswagen is already planning to cut 50,000 jobs by 2030, while management is considering further reductions and seeking to raise returns.

Christiane Benner has drawn a firm line around four Volkswagen plants, warning that IG Metall will oppose closures in Emden, Zwickau, Hannover and Neckarsulm. Her intervention came before a supervisory board meeting on the company’s cost-cutting program.

Benner, who sits on Volkswagen’s supervisory board and serves as its deputy chairwoman, accused CEO Oliver Blume of making serious mistakes in his dealings with employees. She said the announced closures conflicted with company agreements and Volkswagen’s historical responsibility to its workforce.

IG Metall will not allow the plants in Emden, Zwickau, Hannover and Neckarsulm to be closed.

— Christiane BennerThe IG Metall leader warned that the union would oppose possible closures at the four Volkswagen and Audi plants.

“IG Metall will not allow the plants in Emden, Zwickau, Hannover and Neckarsulm to be closed,” Benner told the Augsburger Allgemeine. She said management had signed an agreement at the end of 2024 and was required to honor it. Workers, she added, had already given up money in exchange for future prospects.

It is a major mistake by Volkswagen management to put the plants in Emden, Zwickau, Hannover and Neckarsulm at risk, seek to cut 50,000 more jobs and announce at the same time that the return on sales must rise from the latest 3.8% to 8% to 10% by 2030.

— Christiane BennerBenner criticized Volkswagen’s combination of job cuts, possible plant closures and higher profitability targets.

The dispute comes as Volkswagen debates additional savings. The company is pursuing a planned reduction of 50,000 jobs by 2030, but management believes that will not be enough. Further cuts numbering in the tens of thousands are under discussion, while the four plants face uncertainty because Volkswagen says they do not yet have competitive staffing levels for the 2030s.

Benner also criticized the company’s financial targets, saying it was wrong to put the plants and 50,000 more jobs at risk while demanding that the group’s return on sales rise from 3.8% to between 8% and 10% by 2030. She pointed to the economic dependence of East Frisia on the Emden plant, saying about 30,000 jobs are connected to it. She also argued that Zwickau should remain open because one in four jobs in eastern Germany depends on the automotive industry.

The group’s historical DNA is that profitability and social responsibility must be kept in balance.

— Christiane BennerShe invoked Volkswagen’s wider social responsibility in opposing the closures.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Presse in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog