IG Metall kicks off 'hot summer' protests at Mercedes over cost cuts and relocation
Thousands of Mercedes-Benz employees are staging walkouts at plants across Germany on Friday, as IG Metall protests the automaker's deepening cost cuts and a decision to shift production of a key model to Hungary.
Protests across Germany
Thousands of Mercedes-Benz employees are staging walkouts at plants in Sindelfingen, Untertürkheim, Rastatt, Kuppenheim, Bremen, Berlin, Hamburg, and Germersheim on Friday. IG Metall chairwoman Christiane Benner is scheduled to address workers in Düsseldorf. The union has described the actions as the start of a prolonged campaign.
The IG Metall and the employees of manufacturers and suppliers will give the corporate leaders of the auto industry a hot summer and autumn as long as they continue to rely on job cuts and relocation instead of seeking real solutions.
Cost-cutting measures
The protests follow a board letter sent to employees late last week, informing them that about 90,000 of the 108,000 workers in Germany will not receive an expected special tariff payment in July. The annual "transformation component," worth 18.4 percent of a regular monthly salary, has been postponed to next year. The board said the company must "continue to cut costs with high pressure" to remain competitive on pricing.
Despite all our efforts, the situation in Germany today is dramatic.
- Mercedes board informs employees of cost-cutting measures and postpones special payment.
- Media reports reveal Mercedes will shift small G-Class production to Hungary.
- IG Metall holds protests at multiple German plants.
Hungary production shift
Adding to tensions, media reports on Thursday revealed that Mercedes plans to produce the upcoming small G-Class, scheduled for 2027, at its plant in Kecskemét, Hungary, instead of Rastatt. The move is part of an efficiency program aiming to reduce production costs by 10 percent. After a roughly one-billion-euro expansion, the Hungarian plant's capacity will rise to between 300,000 and 400,000 vehicles per year, potentially handling around 30 percent of European Mercedes production, double its current share. Further volume models may also be relocated, while output at German sites in Sindelfingen, Rastatt, and Bremen is set to decline. The decision comes as German automakers face intense pressure to reduce costs, and at Mercedes the site choice is part of a broader savings debate that includes considerations of longer working hours for the same pay to boost competitiveness at German plants.
Union and company responses
IG Metall accuses automakers and suppliers of cutting 50,000 jobs in the industry last year and warns of more losses if management continues to focus on job cuts and relocation rather than seeking real solutions.
The employees are not to blame for the misery.
A Mercedes-Benz spokesperson said the company takes employees' concerns seriously and aims to inform them early and transparently, even with difficult decisions.
We respect that the works council is expressing its views on the productivity offensive.
The works council had been informed in advance about the planned protests. IG Metall sharply criticizes the plans, arguing that the measures are one-sided against employees and call into question central collective bargaining achievements.
