After long negotiations, VW and IG Metall have agreed on a new company tariff for the six West German VW plants. Both the union and VW management expressed their satisfaction.
Volkswagen and IG Metall have agreed on a new company tariff for around 120,000 employees in six West German plants. From January 2022, employees will receive a wage increase of 2.3 percent. In addition, the company pays a one-time corona allowance of 1,000 euros in June, retrospectively for the period since March 2020. In September, employees will also receive a one-off 150 euros to strengthen their company pension scheme. A previous performance component will be converted into a uniform allowance of 150 euros per month in May.
More flexibility
VW employees also have the option of converting part of the additional remuneration to three days off. Shift workers, parents or employees with relatives in need of care can convert their entire additional remuneration into six days off. It was also agreed to continue the 1,400 annual training positions until 2025. The collective agreement is to apply until the end of November 2022.
“Fair share earned”
The union expressed its satisfaction: Despite the crisis, the VW group is doing well, says Thorsten Gröger, negotiator and district manager of IG Metall. “The workforce deserves its fair share of the company’s success, because after all, it is they who made sure that Volkswagen navigated the crisis with positive results despite adverse pandemic conditions and tackled the challenges of the transformation with determination,” said Gröger . Even the VW management does not complain: “We have reached a collective agreement with a sense of proportion and reason that does justice to the particularly challenging environment since the beginning of the pandemic,” said VW negotiator Arne Meiswinkel. The current year will continue to be characterized by a high level of uncertainty and the pandemic.
“A strong conclusion”
Volkswagen General Works Council Chairman Bernd Osterloh emphasized: “This is a strong degree that our workforce has earned, especially in times of the Corona. There is noticeably more money, which was clearly due after around three years of waiting.” Originally, IG Metall had demanded four percent more wages and the preservation of 1400 apprenticeships by 2030. The carmaker recently offered a mix of a one-off payment and a percentage wage increase for a total of two and a half years. IG Metall rejected this as “absolutely out of the question”.
“Fat Dividends”
The so-called in-house tariff applies to the West German VW plants in Wolfsburg, Braunschweig, Salzgitter, Hanover, Emden and Kassel. The dispute had been conducted in five rounds of negotiations since January – with warning strikes and harsh words. In an interview with “Bild am Sonntag”, IG Metall boss Jörg Hofmann accused the employers: “Big companies like Daimler or VW pay fat dividends. I say: Those who pay billions to their shareholders can also pay their employees properly.” ” Daimler in particular was criticized a few weeks ago for a hefty dividend increase.
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