Overview
- The Stuttgart supplier Mahle announced plans to close its Neustadt an der Donau plant in the first half of 2027, prompting staff to begin an open-ended strike after an initial ballot that backed action by 98.4 percent of the roughly 400 IG Metall members.
- IG Metall reported a negotiated, tariff-level social package on Friday that links severance pay to workers’ age and length of service and includes extra payments for parents and severely disabled employees.
- The deal also establishes a hardship fund and a transfer company — a temporary employer used in Germany to place workers into retraining or new jobs while they search for work — but the union says the agreement only takes effect if union members approve it in a Monday ratification vote.
- Mahle has argued the closure is driven by expiring customer orders, a weak auto market and rising cost pressure from lower-cost Asian competitors, while the union accuses the company of planning to relocate production to Slovakia.
- Bavarian Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger criticized federal industrial policy over the losses and said the state will examine options for the site, leaving regional economic prospects and job outcomes the next key developments to watch after the union vote.