PRESS RELEASE Rail manufacturer ALSTOM continues to focus on cutbacks rather than the future

Frankfurt am Main – Following the plans now announced by ALSTOM management, IG Metall feels vindicated in its decision to terminate the “Future Collective Bargaining Agreement” with the rail vehicle manufacturer: The withdrawal from railcar body fabrication further weakens the German sites and threatens the very existence of individual plants, according to the conclusion reached by IG Metall and the General Works Council following management’s latest formal “employment outlook.”

In this report, the company strategically announced that it would massively scale back railcar body construction in Germany and relocate it abroad. The Görlitz site will be severely affected by this, and there will also be repercussions for Bautzen, Hennigsdorf, Salzgitter, and Kassel. According to management’s current plans, there will be no more capacity utilization in Görlitz starting in April 2026. It is unclear what will happen to the site after that. Hennigsdorf is set to lose important complementary capabilities for train manufacturing.

René Straube, Chair of the ALSTOM General Works Council: “It is precisely this situation that would have prevented the contractual implementation of the ‘Future Collective Bargaining Agreement.’ With their ‘Better Instead of Cheaper’ strategy, the General Works Council and IG Metall sought to make the sites more productive and thus more competitive and future-proof. However, ALSTOM has implemented the collective bargaining agreement inadequately from the very beginning.”

Jochen Homburg, chief negotiator for IG Metall: “IG Metall remains willing to work together with company management to enhance competitiveness—and thereby ensure the preservation of all sites. Unfortunately, however, we do not see this willingness on the employer’s side. We are therefore not so naive as to not also be working on a Plan B.”

The “Future Collective Bargaining Agreement” covered the Hennigsdorf plant (including Hennigsdorf Drives), Görlitz, Bautzen, Siegen, and Kassel. To secure the sites and jobs, the employees had agreed to contribute financial funds—primarily their vacation pay—initially as a form of insurance. In return, the company had committed to making investments in the German sites to restore their competitiveness after years of neglect. However, ALSTOM did not implement this as planned. As a result, IG Metall felt compelled to terminate the collective bargaining agreement and is now demanding the return of the employees’ withheld funds.