On 4 September 2024 the Volkswagen board defended its savings plans before 25,000 employees at a staff assembly in Wolfsburg. At the same assembly, the head of the works council, Daniela Cavallo, said: Volkswagen krankt daran, dass der Vorstand seinen Job nicht macht. Volkswagen is ailing because the board is not doing its job. She called the plans an Armutszeugnis, literally a certificate of poverty, a proof of failure. The chief financial officer told the workforce that the company had one year, perhaps two, to change course. On 20 December 2024 Volkswagen and the IG Metall union reached an agreement.