There is dissatisfaction with works council boss Daniela Cavallo on the Volkswagen intranet – just a few weeks before the election of the representative Group important employee committee at the end of March. IG Metall and the board are in cahoots, is the tenor of the toilers.
The heated discussions revolve around an article by Bild-Zeitung. Title: “VW bosses have to explain their bonus miracle to the works council”. “This message could reinforce many employees’ suspicions that we were taken for a ride during the last collective bargaining negotiations,” writes an employee on the intranet. This benefits the trade union opposition: smaller groups like “The Other List”, which are competing with Cavallo’s IG Metall in the upcoming election, are creating a mood.
The core of the employees’ discontent: Did the powerful employee representative Cavallo let it slip that VW finance chief Arno Antlitz conjured up $6 billion into the coffers – so that the bosses would get bonuses? At least Cavallo, who also sits on the company’s supervisory board, should have made the workforce aware of an unexpected windfall and its consequences for the top floors of the Wolfsburg headquarters office building, say insiders.
On January 21st the crisis-stricken company announcedthat Antlitz raised billions in cash within just a few weeks – thus repealing a statement from September when he spoke of completely empty coffers. VW has reduced inventories and sold outstanding receivables from car sales, it said. “Even for the other board members and the supervisory board, a corresponding mandatory notification from VW was completely unexpected,” he said Bild learned from corporate circles.
The effect: While the group’s board members receive zero bonuses with a “cash flow” of zero euros, according to the regulations that were changed just two years ago, they can receive full additional compensation from a cash threshold of 5.6 billion euros: 1.75 million euros extra per boss.
Losses due to collective bargaining compromise among employees
And the employees of the crisis-stricken car company? They’re not just afraid that the Golf, which has been produced in Wolfsburg for five decades, will be manufactured in Mexico in the future. They also have to accept losses with the tariff compromise reached at the end of 2024. At that time, under pressure from poor VW figures, Cavallo agreed to suspend salary increases and the May bonus in order to secure plants and employment guarantees. In addition, changes to the collective bargaining groups that are currently being negotiated are likely to result in a reduction in real wages. And who negotiated and agreed? General works council head Cavallo, who has been in office since May 2021.
“We share the criticism of the group’s previous information policy regarding the 6 billion euro net cash flow,” said the works council. One can “understand the associated lack of understanding among the employees”. There will be a “top-level discussion” in Wolfsburg this week at which the employee side will make their positions unmistakably clear. The general works council announced further information and a “demand” for Tuesday evening.
The employee representatives also emphasize that, in addition to cash flow, there are other important parameters for board bonuses. Above all, the return on sales (sales margin) is crucial. However, VW will only provide information about profit figures in March when it presents its annual balance sheet.
These numbers may be too bad for bonuses: VW slipped into the red in the third quarter of 2025. Because of the problems at Porsche, the car company recorded a loss of 1.072 billion euros between July and September. In total, VW delivered fewer than 9 million vehicles in 2025 for the first time since Corona. A decrease of 0.5 percent compared to the previous year.
And the company itself? Be silent. To date, there have been no statements from Volkswagen in the media regarding the allegations. VW also did not respond to taz’s inquiries by the time of going to press.