Dusseldorf In Wolfsburg, nobody can get past IG Metall. In no other German city does the metal workers’ union have so many members, namely around 90,000. The majority of them work at Volkswagen, where around 90 percent of the employees are members of IG Metall. That should actually guarantee the established sizes of the union in the city and at Volkswagen an unassailable position of power – even in the forthcoming VW works council elections.
But when the VW employees elect their works council next week, they will find a variety of candidates on their ballot paper that has never existed before. You can now choose between eight different lists. Of these, seven are also staffed by IG Metall representatives. But there can be no talk of unity in the ranks of IG Metall at Volkswagen.
Both at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg and in other companies, IG Metall is threatened with fragmentation. Opposition trade unionists from their own ranks are more likely to take on the IG Metall establishment.
Daniela Cavallo is the current Chairwoman of the Volkswagen Works Council in Wolfsburg. The 46-year-old has been at the head of the VW employee representatives since May last year. At that time she replaced her longtime predecessor Bernd Osterloh. Cavallo was elected by its own committees to lead the employee representation – in the works council elections, she now has to face the base for the first time. She is the top candidate on “List 4”, the IG Metall electoral list.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The chairwoman of the works council has received the support of Wolfsburg’s IG Metall. According to IG Metall, the opposition trade unionists from their own ranks with separate electoral lists are considered renegades who undermine the solidarity of the employee representatives. Flavio Benites, head of the local administration in Wolfsburg, described the solo efforts of the IG Metall dissidents as an “ego trip” because they wanted to secure lucrative positions in the employee representative body as part of the works council elections.
Alternative candidate with IG Metall membership book
One of the best-known Wolfsburg alternative candidates with an IG Metall membership book is Frank Patta, who was a member of the VW works council for many years and was also the head of the IG Metall local administration and thus the predecessor of Flavio Benites. He rejects the allegations of his union colleagues. With his candidacy he wanted to ensure more transparency. The current management all too often lacks the necessary distance from management and the company, in his view.
Frank Patta describes the fact that seven different lists of IG Metall members are running for works council elections in Wolfsburg this year as a “cleansing storm”. Bernd Osterloh headed the VW works council for a good 16 years. The employee representatives are now in a process of reorientation. It is therefore no surprise for Patta that the normally unified IG Metall is currently so fragmented. He believes there will be fewer lists again in the next election in 2026.
He said he was ready to talk to the new works council chair Daniela Cavallo. “My hand is still outstretched,” emphasizes Patta. It will not be up to him if a way of working together is to be found.
>> Read herewhat the VW works council chairwoman Daniela Cavallo wishes from group boss Herbert Diess
At Porsche in Stuttgart, employee representation has developed in a similar direction. With Uwe Hück there was a works council chairman who was even in office a year longer than his Wolfsburg colleague Bernd Osterloh. Three years ago, Werner Weresch took over the top position on the Porsche works council, now the 60-year-old is retiring for health reasons. His successor is to be Harald Buck, also an experienced works council member who is well known at Porsche.
Buck faces a similar problem as Daniela Cavallo in Wolfsburg. Werner Weresch’s tenure was only a period of transition. The almost two decades with Uwe Hück in the leadership of the Porsche works council are still having an impact today. The employee representatives of the sports car manufacturer are about to make a new start, Harald Buck will first have to assert himself in his own ranks.
Nine electoral lists to choose from
In Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, around 18,000 Porsche employees can even choose from nine shortlists, one more than in Wolfsburg. Four years ago there were only three lists. Oppositional IG Metallers are everywhere, fighting against the union’s official list, on which future works council chairman Harald Buck is at the top. “As in Wolfsburg, there should be significantly fewer election lists for the next works council election in four years,” the works council added.
However, IG Metall has another problem. The fact that factory workers from the assembly line usually become members of the largest German industrial union is almost a tradition in the company. But the classic commercial sector is getting smaller and smaller, especially with the large car manufacturers. Development engineers and software experts are becoming more important in companies, thanks to electromobility and digitization.
Daniela Cavallo is the current Chairwoman of the Volkswagen Works Council in Wolfsburg.
(Photo: imago images/Susanne Hübner)
This group of employees does not always feel at home in IG Metall. Example of the Porsche development center in Weissach: As in previous years, there are five lists for works council elections. The single union model hasn’t worked there like it used to for a long time. Among the 7,000 employees, there are hardly any commercial employees who are dominated by engineers.
Tesla in Grünheide near Berlin has already elected its works council. In the new car factory, the Gigavoice list has become the strongest force; a group close to management. IG Metall initially has to be content with the opposition role there.
In classic industrial locations such as Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen or Wolfsburg, the leaders of IG Metall like Harald Buck and Daniela Cavallo will probably not have to worry about losing the election. The influence of the unitary union is still strong enough that it should be enough for the majority.
However, the time of dream results with 90 percent and more should be over for them. Frank Patta would probably be happy at VW in Wolfsburg if he could get between ten and 15 percent of the votes with his opposition list. IG Metall currently has 66 of a total of 75 works council mandates.
No one is currently daring to make a precise forecast of how the election at Volkswagen could turn out. There is speculation in Wolfsburg works council circles that IG Metall could end up with 50 mandates. The exact results will be available next Friday. Then, in the afternoon, the count is taken in the works council office.
More: Conflict in the works council – Frank Patta challenges Daniela Cavallo.