Saxony's Economics Minister criticizes VW for canceling the job guarantee

Saxony's Economics Minister Martin Dulig has criticized Volkswagen's cancellation of the job guarantee. VW is now implementing what the Board of Management had already announced, the SPD politician said in a statement. "This is frightening, as it is about the security of the employees and the locations."

Employment guarantee terminated

Europe's largest car manufacturer formally terminated the employment guarantee in place since 1994 on Tuesday, as the company announced. The contract will therefore expire at the end of the year. Six months later, redundancies for operational reasons will then be possible, i.e. from July 2025.

In addition to the employment protection agreement, which previously excluded such redundancies, several other agreements have also been terminated, including the guarantee of employment for apprentices and the regulations for temporary work.

Volkswagen had announced just over a week ago that it was terminating the job guarantee and no longer rules out plant closures. However, the Group had not yet specified a date for this.

Collective bargaining to be brought forward

The Group now wants to negotiate a new arrangement with the trade union and works council as quickly as possible, as announced by HR Director Gunnar Kilian. The collective bargaining negotiations on the VW pay scale, which were not originally planned until October, are to be brought forward and extended to include the contracts that have now been terminated. This had previously been offered by IG Metall.

Dulig promised support for the VW plants in Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden in Saxony: Saxony's government would continue to do everything in its power to ensure that there was security for the sites and that compulsory redundancies were ruled out. "We want clarity from VW that the sites here are safe," demanded Dulig. Management mistakes could not be carried out on the backs of the employees.