Mercedes Workers Rally Nationwide as Board Pushes to End 31-Year-Old 35-Hour Week
Published on 07/05/2026 at 11:54 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Tens of thousands of Mercedes-Benz employees took to the streets on Friday in coordinated protests targeting management’s cost-cutting drive. The IG Metall union reported 33,000 participants across German sites; the company counted roughly 16,000.
The largest demonstrations unfolded in Baden-Württemberg and Bremen. At the Sindelfingen plant, union figures put the crowd at 20,000 – the company estimated 10,000. Around 4,000 workers gathered in Bremen, 2,000 in Rastatt, and 300 at the Hamburg plant, where production slowed temporarily.
What sparked the anger is management’s demand to scrap the 35-hour workweek, in place for 31 years, and raise it to 40 hours without any pay increase. Ergun Lümali, head of the group works council, called the plan “an attack on existing collective agreements and on the welfare state.” He argued that employees should not bear the cost of what he termed strategic mistakes by leadership. Colleagues from BMW and Audi sent messages of solidarity.
Behind the standoff lies a company-wide savings target. Mercedes-Benz aims to cut production costs by 10% by 2027. Board member Britta Seeger defended the push: hourly labour costs need to fall, she said, for the automaker to stay competitive. Supervisory board chair BrudermĂĽller has also advocated a return to the 40-hour week.
A separate decision has deepened mistrust. Some 90,000 employees were due to receive a one-off payment in July equal to 18.4% of a month’s salary. The company has delayed that payout until 2027. According to reports, the works council was not informed in advance.
First-quarter figures for 2026 underline the financial strain. Group profit dropped 17% to €1.43 billion, operating profit (EBIT) fell 30% to €1.8 billion, and the return on sales stood at 5.7%. In addition, production of the smaller G-Class model is to be moved to Hungary.
The Mercedes conflict mirrors broader turmoil in Germany’s automotive sector. Since 2019, around 111,000 jobs have been cut across the industry. While rivals like Volkswagen are slashing jobs and even weighing plant closures, Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius has chosen a confrontational path – demanding longer hours instead of deeper headcount reductions.
IG Metall has vowed to escalate, promising a “hot summer.” The next major action is set for July 9 in Stuttgart. The union also plans to widen protests to other companies, including Volkswagen.
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