Open letter at VW in Zwickau: "Dying in installments"

The remaining temporary employees at the VW plant in Zwickau sharply criticize the company management and politicians in an open letter. The letter, which was distributed by IG Metall, states that 2024 felt like a "death in installments".

The company had already been hit hard since 2023, when demand for e-cars collapsed and the first employees on fixed-term contracts had to leave. Currently, around 1,000 temporary employees are still working in Zwickau and the permanent employees are also working in uncertainty.

"We feel let down by politicians and the Board of Management," wrote the employees. Politicians have failed to create the conditions for attractive e-mobility. The VW Board of Management has been talking for two years about the need for "product fireworks". "There's no sign of that either. Nor have we managed to upgrade our existing products so that they are in demand on the market." Following a plant conversion, Zwickau is now a pure e-car site.

"Most important branch of industry on the brink"

Politicians and VW management must finally act now. Neither party political interests should be in the foreground, nor should an "exclusively dividend-related corporate policy" set the tone. "This is not just about temporary employment contracts at the Group's former flagship plant, this is now about the most important industrial sector in the Federal Republic of Germany, which is on the brink of collapse!"

The car manufacturer VW is in crisis; plant closures and compulsory redundancies are on the cards. In the current wage negotiations, the company is demanding a ten percent pay cut from its employees. IG Metall, on the other hand, is demanding the preservation of all sites and a job guarantee for the approximately 130,000 employees.