The fourth round of negotiations in the wage dispute at Volkswagen has come to an end without a result.

Volkswagen chief negotiator Arne Meiswinkel said on Monday evening after around seven hours of talks that both sides were still a long way from a viable solution. At the same time, he spoke of constructive talks on all demands in the current round of collective bargaining. The company needs sustainable and short-term cost reductions in order to finance future investments. "We have not yet reached that point," he emphasized. Accordingly, Volkswagen could not rule out plant closures.

IG Metall chief negotiator Thorsten Gröger also spoke of a constructive climate in the negotiations. For the first time, the employees' proposal had not been rejected, but the company had given it serious consideration. The employees had made it clear that a basic prerequisite for a solution was the renunciation of site closures. The talks between the two sides are to continue on December 16 and 17.

Before the negotiations began, tens of thousands of VW employees took part in a four-hour warning strike. More than 10,000 people attended a rally at the main plant in Wolfsburg alone. Gröger called on the Board of Management to make concessions: Otherwise, "in 2025 there will only be one answer to the cost-cutting hammer: the strike hammer," he said.

IG Metall said that around 68,000 VW employees had taken part in the strike by the afternoon, most of them in Wolfsburg. According to the company, the number of strikers was 35,000. Further warning strikes were planned for the late and night shifts. Head of the Works Council Daniela Cavallo confirmed to the strikers that there would be no mass redundancies or plant closures with her. "And no harsh cuts to our company wage agreement that would permanently reduce its level." Now it is up to the VW Board of Management to back down from its maximum demands.

Among other things, the company is demanding a ten percent pay cut and threatening plant closures. The employees want to respond to the overcapacity with a fund that can finance a reduction in working hours at the particularly affected locations. However, they are not offering a pay cut, but rather the use of the upcoming wage increase.

(Report by Christina Amann, edited by Scot W. Stevenson; if you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at Berlin.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or Frankfurt.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)