German Auto Workers Rally in Force as Mercedes Cuts Spark Industry-Wide Alarm
Published on 07/03/2026 at 21:05 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Germany's auto sector is reeling from a deepening downturn that has already erased roughly 50,000 jobs this year, and the pressure boiled over on Friday when more than 33,000 Mercedes-Benz employees walked off the job to protest management's cost-cutting plans. The IG Metall union, which organized the walkouts and rallies at plants across the country, said the turnout reflected a workforce fed up with belt-tightening at a moment it believes the company should be investing for the future.
The company gave a far lower figure — around 15,750 participants — but the dispute is less about headcounts than about the direction Mercedes is taking. The anger is concentrated at the flagship Sindelfingen plant, where the union counted 20,000 demonstrators (Mercedes put the number at 10,000). Protests also flared in Untertürkheim, Bremen, Berlin, Hamburg, Rastatt, Kuppenheim, and Germersheim. In Stuttgart and Sindelfingen, chants were aimed directly at chief executive Ola Källenius, with some demonstrators calling for him to step down. Ergun Lümali, head of the company-wide works council, said bluntly: "The employees do not agree with the current course of the board."
What has triggered the backlash is a package of measures affecting about 90,000 staff. Mercedes plans to defer a special payment worth 18.4% of a monthly salary until 2027, extend the working week without extra pay, and tighten remote-work rules by increasing mandatory office presence — all moves the union casts as an attack on hard-won conditions. The company defends the plan as necessary in a harsh economic climate. In the first quarter of 2026, the Mercedes group's profit fell by 17.2%, following a 2025 in which earnings halved to 5.3 billion euros. A further headache: production of the E-GLC electric model is being disrupted by missing battery deliveries from China.
IG Metall chairwoman Christiane Benner did not mince words. "Instead of cutting, the company must invest," she said, announcing a "hot autumn" of further actions. The next show of force is already scheduled — a car rally through Stuttgart on 9 July.
The unrest at Mercedes is part of a wider crisis gripping German automotive manufacturing. The ifo industry barometer for the sector stood at minus 21.4 points in June. At Volkswagen, the situation is even grimmer: up to four plants may close and as many as 100,000 jobs could be cut. Against that backdrop, the Mercedes protests have drawn explicit solidarity from rivals. The works councils at BMW and Audi issued statements backing the Mercedes workforce. Audi representatives warned that the proposed cuts amount to an assault on existing collective agreements, while BMW staff representatives flatly rejected any move toward a 40-hour week.
The regional leadership of IG Metall accused Mercedes management of setting the wrong priorities despite the difficult environment. "The company needs to invest in the future, not cut back," the union said, signaling that the coming months will see a sustained fight over the direction of one of Germany's most iconic industrial employers.
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