Volkswagen moves to terminate labour agreements, IG Metall says
The union says the move covers multiple collective agreements and lands on the day management, IG Metall and the works council were due to meet in Hanover
Published · Updated
UpdateWednesday, September 30, 2026 at 7:45 AM ET
The 2024 labour agreement under review in Hanover includes a job guarantee running through 2030, according to Reuters. Reuters also said Handelsblatt was first to report the date of the meeting.
IG Metall said Volkswagen plans to terminate its labour agreements with the union, confirming a report that had circulated earlier as a warning rather than a stated position.
Volkswagen is moving to terminate multiple collective agreements, according to Handelsblatt. The move comes as the carmaker, IG Metall and the works council prepare to meet in Hanover to review the 2024 labour pact, a session Reuters had reported would take place on September 30 to discuss employment and investment commitments tied to that agreement. Reuters has also reported that Volkswagen's wider restructuring plan involves up to 100,000 job cuts across the group, with four German plants facing possible closure from the start of the next decade.
The dispute lands on a company already under financial strain. Volkswagen cut its 2026 operating margin guidance on September 18 to no more than 1%, down from a previous range of 4.0% to 5.5%, according to ad-hoc-news.de, attributing the cut to a roughly €6 billion non-cash goodwill impairment tied to Porsche as part of about €10 billion in total special items. It kept its automotive net cash flow guidance of €3 billion to €6 billion and net liquidity guidance of €32 billion to €34 billion. Separately, Volkswagen's financial arm is set to absorb costs from a UK compensation scheme for mis-sold motor loans. Volkswagen preferred shares traded at €71.31 in pre-market dealing on Lang & Schwarz, down 0.22% from the prior close of €71.47, according to ad-hoc-news.de; the reference price sits €2.11 above the stock's 52-week low of €69.20 and €37.84 below its 52-week high of €109.15, with a market capitalisation of €35.8 billion.
Confirmation from IG Metall turns what had been reported as a warning into a stated management position, arriving the same day as the Hanover meeting meant to find common ground. It closes off a negotiating track that had already failed twice in early September and matches the union's earlier vow to fight rather than compromise. That leaves Volkswagen, already absorbing the margin cut and the UK motor-finance costs, with far less room to withstand a strike or a prolonged disruption to production and cash flow.