Overview
- Volkswagen and the bargaining parties opened negotiations roughly seven weeks before the planned January 1 start to overhaul the company pay framework.
- The redesign aims to streamline about 6,000 work systems and 167 job descriptions into a clearer, simpler structure.
- Management targets up to a six percent reduction in the total wage bill, while the works council stresses a status-protection rule and calls the six percent an upper limit.
- The new pay system is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027 and covers around 100,000 employees, with the three Saxony sites joining the company agreement from early 2026.
- Short-term steps include suspended bonuses and paused pay increases, and at the Kassel plant nearly 400 fixed-term workers are reportedly preparing legal action as their contracts end this year.