“Automobile Center e.V.” – a neo-fascist company group (not only) at Daimler (not only in Stuttgart)

dossier

“The “Center” list once again took part in the works council elections at Daimler in Untertürkheim this year. The group behind it, “Zentrum Automobil e.V.” is a neo-fascist business organization. According to its statutes, the aim is to set up operating groups in the automotive industry, based on the pilot project at the car manufacturer Daimler. The group has been working there at the Daimler headquarters in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim for years…”Contribution from the MLPD from 2014 (kw17) – see the Works council elections 2018and the Nazis in other industries/companies tooDossier: AfD & Co: After the heads now also in companies and works councils?!and here specifically regarding Daimler, the development after the BR elections in 2018 and afterwards:

• The fight of the extreme right for the working class. On the anchoring and importance of the Center and AfD in companies
  “…For the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Center offers an opportunity to have a stronger impact on the German working class and to build organized support in companies. (…) Both deal with socio-political issues by reinterpreting the contradiction between capital and labor, i.e. the conflict between bottom and top, into one between the inside and the outside. The class conflict is ethnicized and, for example, poor wages are not interpreted as a result of deregulation of the labor market, but rather as a result of supposedly poorly qualified workers with a migration background who would depress wage levels. With this approach, harmonious material conditions can be propagated among Germans, while the central distribution conflict is shifted to the outside world. (…) At least at the moment, the Center is not in a position to position itself as a powerful alternative to the DGB unions. However, the real danger lies less in the currently unrealistic prospect of a competing mass union. What is more important is the potential to shift political interpretative frameworks and strengthen right-wing narratives in company debates…”Article by Mathias Hoose and Tim Ackermann inexpress – newspaper for socialist company and trade union workIssue 9/2026
  • See also the dossierWorks council elections in 2026 from March 1st to May 31st – already cast brown shadows ahead
  • and the dossier:AfD & Co: After the heads now also in companies and works councils?!
• Automobile Center causes cardiac arrhythmias before works council elections
  “…The tragedy is that the fascists are realizing their historic mission and are somewhat cleverly filling a vacuum left by leftists and radicals. Climate change, neglect of the skilled workers' wealth, structural stupidity and management corruption are fueling climate deniers and combustion engine chauvinists, as in the USA. Like the NSDAP in the 1930s, the AfD union nucleus "Center" - in addition to the agitation against the Greens and climate glue - adopts rhetoric from the left in order to lure the working class. Back then it was criticism of party and union bigwigs. Kurt Tucholsky and Erich Mühsam have created literary monuments to these real-life bigwigs. For strategic reasons, the “Center” is in favor of the works council this time and is agitating verbally and radically against “comanagement” – at least in the heart of IG Metall.
  The big advantage of fascism: It comes from emotions and myths. It doesn't have to be logical and stringent; He is allowed to lie, rush, distort, make false promises and literally wrap himself up in contradictions. The AfD, together with the CDU, will demolish the Works Constitution Act as a “bureaucratic monster” and give alternative representative bodies the same legal status as works councils. An example of where the journey is headed was provided by the dubious solar sales company Enpal, which is benefiting from the natural gas shock caused by Russia's sanctions and whose sales model is reminiscent of a pyramid scheme. A celebrating mob of apparently brainwashed solar salespeople plunged a preparatory election meeting for the works council election into chaos for the second time in mid-February…”Contribution by Jessica Reisner and Elmar Wigand from March 13, 2026 on labor injustice in Germany 
  • See for initial results The 2026 works council elections are largely over in the automotive industry: Has the “big shift to the right” really happened? An overview of the dossier:Works council elections in 2026 from March 1st to May 31st – already cast brown shadows ahead
• [Environmental union flyer] For strong and combative unions. For progressive and environmentally conscious works councils. Fascists and climate crisis deniers are not the “opposition”! 
  “Tens of thousands of jobs were lost last year. Including training places for young people. In automotive, steel, healthcare and other industries. The employees are completely justified in defending themselves! “Strike is in the air” – a good thing! Of course, the company bosses don't like that at all. So what do they do? “Divide and conquer”, their old concept. This is also why capital is increasingly supporting fascist forces. And they direct our anger at scapegoats, either “environmentalists”, “migrants”, “Chinese”… whatever is just right. Fascists in “modern” disguises also try to build structures in companies. First under the name “Zentrum Automobil”, now “ZENTRUM”. In additionthey want to use works council elections. Interesting how the fascist Höcke promoted the “center” at an AfD party conference: the AfD “needs such alternative unions” as a frontline organization! Arguments of these people under the microscope…”Flyer for the 2026 BR elections from the environmental union , see also:
  • Creative and snappy before the works council election: Fascists have no place in the company or on the works council
    “Hot election campaign phase: there are works council elections in March. Posters, banners, flyers, stickers in all departments, on poles, fences, in stairwells. Even in the toilet‑Lid. In addition to IG Metall and the “andere List” (a copy of an association of the same name from Wolfsburg), the fascist CENTER is running. As a disguise, they call themselves the “Alliance of Free Works Councils” (BfB) at VW Zwickau. They are running with 25 candidates - a presumably small but hard core consists of AfD cadres and fascists. (…) Colleagues in the company have started to target the BfB. In particular, their double standards and their obvious selfishness are the subject. The abbreviation BfB becomes “alliance of cowardly, fascist, lazy or questionable” works councils. In the montage, an anonymous flyer goes around in which the BfB is caricatured as the “Pied Piper of Hamelin”. Next to the candidates' posters, comments appear from an invisible hand like "I'm one of those whose asses have been saved several times by IG Metall!" or “I’m running because I really don’t feel like working…”….”Correspondence from February 24, 2026 rf-news.de , see also
  • our dossier:The right-wing works council campaign using the example of VW in Zwickau
  • and the dossier:Works council elections in 2026 from March 1st to May 31st – already cast brown shadows ahead
• When noAfD leader Alice Weidel and the right-wing pseudo-union Center distribute leaflets at Mercedes in Untertürkheim (and Danial Bamdadi fights against it)…
  • Alice Weidel and Center: Election campaigns at “DaimlerChrysler”
    "AfD leader Alice Weidel is not only campaigning for her party, but also for the right-wing pseudo-union Center. That's what happened a few days ago at Mercedes in Untertürkheim. Until now, she hasn't wanted to know anything about this toxic club.
    When it comes to securing her position of power, AfD leader Alice Weidel is extremely flexible. Every now and then, problems arose in the party with – yes, how should we put it – extreme right-wing extremists. The AfD doesn't actually want to have them that close - for example, the right-wing extremists from the pseudo-union Center. It was once on the AfD's incompatibility list, but at the party conference four years ago this decision was repealed - against Weidel's wishes. She then said: “I stand by it: I think this club is highly toxic and will always represent it that way.”
    Last Friday afternoon, the party and parliamentary group leader stood at the Mercedes Untertürkheim turnstile in the company of center boss Oliver Hilburger and a handful of center works council members. She watched her parliamentary group colleague Markus Frohnmaier, Baden-Württemberg's top candidate for the state elections at the beginning of March, for a few minutes as he distributed AfD leaflets (she didn't pick up any) and stood ready for selfies. There wasn't much crowd, especially since the shift change was over.
    Then prefer Untertürkheim
    Weidel actually wanted to come to Mercedes Gate 1 in Sindelfingen. But that was canceled for “security reasons,” according to her party. Maybe the AfD frontwoman was afraid of the half dozen pensioners from the MLPD/Courage who were distributing leaflets there? We don't know, except that she and her entourage of about ten people preferred to go to Untertürkheim.
    Danial Bamdadi also appeared there. He works for the Association for the Preservation of Democracy, which educates about right-wing extremists on behalf of real trade unions. Bamdadi asked Weidel if she had changed her mind about the center. Weidel's answer: "You can bend here." Even asking repeatedly didn't help. (…)
    Weidel's appearance can be understood as a double advertising event: once for Frohnmaier's election campaign and once for Center for the upcoming works council elections. The right-wing club competes at Mercedes with its own lists, in Sindelfingen under the heading: “Stop nepotism”. The group probably doesn't mean nepotism in the AfD…”Article by Gesa von Leesen from February 18, 2026 in the KONTEXT:Wochenzeitung 
    • See also the dossier:Works council elections in 2026 from March 1st to May 31st – already cast brown shadows aheadand currently: The AfD is close to workers, but anti-union
  • Trade unionist Bamdadi: “Put the pressure upwards”. The trade unionist Danial Bamdadi fights against the right in companies
    “…Anyone who came to Daimler in the past knew that he or she would be able to buy a house. Now employees are being told by management that they are too expensive. We are experiencing this everywhere in the region: Bosch has just announced that it will cut 14,000 jobs. And the right draws its strength from this mood. The AfD's top candidate Markus Frohnmaier constantly talks about "Detroit 2.0" during the election campaign. It is an image intended to scare people. Of course, the AfD has no suggestions at all as to how employment could be secured. The only thing she proposes are restrictions on the right to strike and co-determination. Otherwise, it promises that everything can go back to the way it used to be: we continue to build combustion engines and everyone can afford a house and two cars. (…)
    [The labor sociologist Klaus Dörre says that industrial workers would turn the experiences of devaluation that they themselves had against migrants and recipients of citizens' benefits.]
    Yes, that corresponds to the discussions we have with employees. The tenor is: "We go to work hard while others live at the expense of the state." The problem is that this mood is being stoked not only by the AfD, but also by the Union, the Springer press and on talk shows. People are led to believe that things would be better for them if others were punished more harshly.
    [What is the right's operational strategy? For a while there were great fears that a right-wing extremist union could emerge with the “Center”. But so far it only has 19 works council mandates nationwide.]
    The “Center” is not a union, but just an association and therefore cannot enforce anything. Of course, right-wing colleagues also notice this. On the right's strategy: The AfD leadership wanted to make an incompatibility decision at the party conference in 2022 because there are too many well-known Nazi cadres active in the “Center”. A group led by Björn Höcke submitted a counterproposal, which was then accepted. Since then there has been growing cooperation between the AfD and the Center. So far, the AfD has not managed to reach its voter clientele organizationally. Studies repeatedly find that up to 40 percent of workers vote for the AfD in federal elections. But that isn't happening yet. A few days ago, AfD chairman Alice Weidel stood with the chairman of the “Center” Oliver Hilburger in front of the Mercedes factory during shift change to distribute flyers for works council and state elections.
    [Does this mean that the extreme right does not want to infiltrate the DGB unions, but instead relies on their own organization?]
    Benedikt Kaiser, who comes from Götz Kubitschek's circle and is one of the pioneers of the extreme right, recently suggested that the right should pursue a dual strategy: attacking the existing trade union structures as part of the "left establishment" and at the same time infiltrating them from within. This is not that difficult because most works council elections are personality elections. The right-wingers will initially try to stay under the radar in many companies. (…)
    The AfD is currently campaigning in Baden-Württemberg with the slogan: “More net from gross!” To achieve this, it wants to abolish “social burdens”. The aim here is to show alternatives by directing the pressure upwards. We have to make it clear that after the citizens' benefit recipients, it will be the employees' turn. Because it is not primarily citizens' money that should be cut, but rather wages…”Interview by Raul Zelik from February 19, 2026 in ND online 
    • See the dossier on Danial Bamdadi:[Petition for Danial Bamdadi] Committed anti-fascist and IG Metaller is threatened with denial of citizenship and deportation in Iran!
• Germany's right-wing extremists are courting dissatisfied auto workers... Insights into the election campaign for works council elections run by the AfD-affiliated "Zentrum" association in the Stuttgart area
  • Right-wing land grabs in the company: AfD-affiliated association “Zentrum” wants to gain a foothold in works council elections in the ailing auto industry. His enemy is not capital, but the DGB
    “Works council elections are coming up in the Federal Republic of Germany. Between March 1 and May 31, 2026, almost 40 percent of all employees in Germany will elect representatives. The latter should “ensure that the laws, regulations, accident prevention regulations, collective agreements and works agreements that apply to the benefit of employees are implemented,” says the Works Constitution Act. The extreme right has been trying to grab hold of this political-economic power of co-determination for years - without success. Now, led by the AfD, it is gaining momentum, which does not bode well for the elections. According to Reuters, "Gamechanger" was written on a leaflet in front of the car manufacturer's headquarters in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim on Wednesday morning, one day before Mercedes was due to present its miserable annual results for 2025, recommending the "Zentrum" association.
    IG Metall is accused of watching the job cuts almost passively and of being powerless to combat the crisis. “We have established ourselves,” commented club founder Oliver Hilburger, confident of victory. Today, the workforce is more afraid of disagreements with the works council than with the factory owner. Zentrum describes itself as an “alternative union,” but does not have enough members to be legally recognized as a collective bargaining party. However, the association is well networked with fascist organizations such as the Identitarian Movement. “Especially if you don’t yet have a works council, now is the right time to act,” the association mobilizes online for the upcoming elections. He identified the DGB unions as the main enemy: “It is not uncommon” that they act “in a kind of symbiosis with the employer side to the detriment of the workforce.” A video is intended to prove “legal corruption through comanagement”. However, this circumstance, which is also objectionable from a socialist perspective, does not cause the center to engage in more class struggle. On the contrary: "In the top-bottom rhetoric, it is less capital, the owners of means of production or the Daimler/Mercedes-Benz management that appear as opponents, but rather IG Metall and the complicity of which it is accused," said a study by the DGB's Hans Böckler Foundation in January. Transformation, “climate hysteria” and “internationalist attitudes”, i.e. a lack of nationalism, are blamed for job losses and deindustrialization. (…)
    Just like its political arm, the extreme right in companies is pretty blank on industrial policy issues, reassured Barbara Resch, IG Metall boss in Baden-Württemberg, with practical optimism. (…) Right-wing candidates are still “a very, very rare phenomenon,” said IG Metall education director Ralf Reinstädtler recently. The sociologist Klaus Dörre, however, pointed out that these candidates could get onto the works councils under the guise of alternative lists: "To assume that the unions will survive these works council elections with nothing more than a black eye would be fatal." In the best case scenario, the DGB will rediscover the class struggle for itself." Article by Niki Uhlmann in the Junge Welt from February 14, 2026 
  • Germany's right-wing extremists are wooing dissatisfied auto workers
    “German companies are holding elections for employee representatives in March and May.Right-wing extremist movements are penetrating the important automotive sector.Could offer the AfD party a larger platform.The elections take place as the AfD tries to establish itself institutionally
    On a dark February morning at the massive Mercedes-Benz plant in Untertürkheim, workers arriving for the early shift are greeted by activists from the Center, a self-proclaimed union affiliated with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.“Game changer” is written on the leaflets they are distributing ahead of the factory's works council elections, in which the center wants to challenge the established unions, which they say have failed to protect the automotive industry from thousands of job cuts.Currently on the fringes of union politics in the automotive sector, the far right is hoping to capitalize on the fears of workers in Germany's power plant industry to build grassroots influence that could help the AfD at the national level. The country's automakers are struggling with the transition to electric vehicles and competition from China…” EnglishArticle by Rachel More, Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke from February 13, 2026 at Reuters (machine translated)
  • r the Mercedes gate in Stuttgart: This is what the “centre” fascists understand by “democracy”
    “On February 10th, we two Red Flag sellers went on a mission to distribute the brochure “How modern fascists want to break up the unions and how we can prevent that”1. We had made a poster announcing this with the headline: “No vote for ‘Center’ in the works council elections!”
    Although the Bad Cannstatt engine plant, at whose gate we have been standing for a long time, is now part of an area of ​​influence of the fascist company organization “Zentrum”, the majority of the colleagues we spoke to do not want to vote for them. However, most people underestimate why these forces can now expand their influence in the workforce of corporate companies and the danger this poses to the labor movement.(…)
    Of course, there were also some avowed supporters of “Zentrum”: be it “because their works councils helped me” or allegedly “IG Metall is contributing to job losses with its ban on combustion engines”. The hardliners are different: a candidate on the “center” list took a picture of our poster with his cell phone. When confronted, he claimed: “What you are doing is undemocratic!” A short time later, Vural Baran made it clear what understanding of democracy “Center” has (in seventh place on the list). He tore up our poster and, despite our protests, did not let himself be stopped from taking it into the company…”Correspondence report from February 14, 2026 on rf-news.de 
  • Future Forum event on March 2, 2026: Works council election 2026 – particularly important in these stormy times
    Monday, March 2, 2026 at 6 p.m. in the Stuttgart trade union building, Willi-Bleicher-Straße 20, ground floor, Bamboo Hall with Lukas Hezel from the Association for the Preservation of Democracy and Miguel Revilla, trust body leader Mercedes Untertürkheim - seeInformation at VKG 
  • Of course, see also the dossier:Works council elections in 2026 from March 1st to May 31st – already cast brown shadows ahead
• Wolfsburg: The fight against the fascist “center” is of great importance in the company and the union
  “At the invitation of the IAC supporting group Braunschweig-Wolfsburg, over 50 participants discussed on October 4th in the renowned Alwar Aalto House in Wolfsburg how a broad anti-fascist united front can prevent the spread of fascist structures in companies.
  The event was attended by active trade unionists from IG Metall and ver.di., members of the Greens, the SPD, and the Falken, the MLPD, the environmental union and the women's association Courage from Hanover. The DKP, VOLT and the Left from Wolfsburg sent greetings, the MLPD gave a welcoming speech.
  A stirring lecture by the two speakers, a shop steward from Mercedes Stuttgart, and Götz Schubert, Association of those Persecuted by the Nazi Regime - Association of Antifascists (VVN-BdA), reported on the background, the history of its origins and their experiences with the fascist “Automobile Center” in the company. It became clear that their digging and demagoguery should not be underestimated. We can definitely recommend the lecture! It is very lively, broken up with video sequences. (…)
  The “center” avoids “burnt” terms such as “national community”. They pretend to be anti-racist by placing regressive or fascist-minded foreign colleagues on their lists. At the same time, you can see videos where their fascist frontman, Hilburger, claps enthusiastically when mass remigration is called for.
  They take care of individual colleagues and point out individual ways out in order to prevent common resistance. You talk about “courage to oppose” and mean the “courage” to split the trade union movement. They describe strikes and workers' resistance as “harmful” and demand close cooperation with the capitalists for “German jobs”. They claim that there is no longer any exploitation and class struggle in Germany. So we should ignore daily reality and submit to the goals of German capital without complaint.
  They are calling for people to leave the DGB unions and want to halve membership in IG Metall. Their declared goal is to destroy the unitary unions as the most important mass organization of the labor movement in Germany.
  “Zentrum” is today explicitly the most important organization of the “Vorfeld” (original sound AfD) of the fascist AfD. They have already established connections in some companies and founded the “North-West Center” in Hanover this year. They have the declared intention of entering the VW companies in the works council elections in spring 2026 and establishing permanent structures. But not just in the automotive industry, but also in healthcare and other industries in the ver.di area. We want and must prevent that…”Report from October 8th, 2025 in the Rote-Fahne-News from a correspondent from Wolfsburg including theLecture to read . See also
  • Attention: Fascists in the company - revised brochure on the fight against their influence using the example of the Automobile Center at Mercedes Untertürkheim
    “From the foreword: Every colleague must understand the role “Center” and AfD play in society and actively stand up against it. They are the shock troops for the corporate masters to abolish democratic rights and freedoms and destroy the trade union and workers movement, especially the part that is critical of capitalism. When push comes to shove, they stand for the establishment of a fascist dictatorship…” Info from October 20, 2025 at automotiveworkers to the brochure, 24 pages, 1 EUR, to order viagermany@iawc.info
  • and our dossier:Works council elections in 2026 from March 1st to May 31st – already cast brown shadows ahead
• The Braunschweig Labor Court denies the AfD-affiliated “Zentrum” association access and advertising rights to the VW subsidiary, but the appeal only requires 1 member in the company
  • Verdict: No access for the AfD-affiliated “Zentrum” association to the VW subsidiary
    “For the time being, the AfD-affiliated “Zentrum” association does not have access to the VW subsidiary Volkswagen Group Services plant in Isenbüttel in order to engage in trade union activities. This was decided by the Braunschweig Labor Court.  “Center” would have had to prove that at least one person works at the Isenbüttel location (Gifhorn district) who is a member of the association, the labor court ruled on Thursday. This was not sufficiently proven by the plaintiffs. The association had submitted documents, but they were too general and not sufficiently detailed. According to the court, the facts of the case were therefore not sufficiently explained. However, if the center had provided the necessary evidence, the association would be entitled to the access and advertising rights it was suing for, said a court spokesman. The verdict is not yet final and “Zentrum” can appeal. (…) Volkswagen Group Services welcomed the court’s decision. “The court clarification underlines that companies are not obliged to grant every organization access to their business premises – especially when legitimate security interests and the protection of trade secrets are affected,” it said in a statement. We will continue to ensure that “our standards for a safe and trusting working environment are maintained.” According to “Zentrum”, six of the almost 150 employees belong to the association at the Isenbüttel location…”Report from August 21, 2025 on NDR – it remains unclear why the alleged 6 members in the 150-person workforce of Volkswagen Group Services (see below) were not recognized by the court... See IG Metall before the verdict:
  • Organization Center: IG Metall warns of AfD-affiliated employee group at VW
    “The Braunschweig Labor Court is due to decide today in the dispute over the collective bargaining eligibility of a group of employees close to the AfD at Volkswagen. IG Metall is worried about the cohesion of the workforce.
    The AfD-affiliated workers' organization Zentrum now wants to establish itself at VW - and is suing the Braunschweig labor court against the VW subsidiary Volkswagen Group Services. Before the announcement date scheduled for today (12 p.m.), IG Metall warned of a strengthening of the self-proclaimed “alternative union” at VW. »The center is causing disunity. “That weakens the workforce instead of strengthening it,” said Thorsten Gröger, district manager of IG Metall for Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, to the dpa news agency. »Division has never improved the situation of employees. What helps is solidarity, and that’s what we stand for.« (…)
    Since this spring, the group has been trying to gain a foothold in Lower Saxony with a regional office in Hanover. It is headed by Jens Keller, AfD city councilor in Hanover and staff member at the state capital's municipal waste disposal company Aha. Keller was previously a member of Ver.di.
    The center also receives support from AfD politicians in other ways. The Lower Saxony Bundestag member Dirk Brandes wrote on Facebook that IG Metall was losing members at VW and was “cozying up with the top management.” He presented the Center as an alternative - expressly as an employee representative body close to the AfD, which, in his words, "really has the workplace and not the green ideology in mind." With regard to membership development at IG Metall, the DGB union in Lower Saxony recently felt compelled to publicly contradict a wave of resignations. A spokesman commented on a corresponding report by "WirtschaftsWoche", according to which thousands of VW employees have turned their backs on the union since the beginning of the year, with the words: "We are miles away from the numbers presented in the article." The magnitude mentioned has no basis; the level of organization of IG Metall at Volkswagen has been consistently above 90 percent for years.”Report from August 21, 2025 in the Spiegel online 
• Volkswagen Group Services: Fascist “center” is suing for access to the company before shop steward elections and is citing 6 members of the 150-strong workforce
  • Election of confidants: AfD-affiliated association Zentrum wants to gain a foothold at VW subsidiaries
    “There are already presences of the “alternative union” at Mercedes and BMW. Now a court must clarify whether the organization at Volkswagen Group Services at the Isenbüttel location is allowed to elect representatives.
    The AfD-affiliated workers' organization Zentrum wants to gain a foothold at VW and is now demanding access to the company in court. The association, which describes itself as an “alternative union”, is suing the VW subsidiary Volkswagen Group Services before the Braunschweig labor court. There was no agreement at the chamber meeting on Thursday. A verdict is due to be made on August 21st, as Judge Ingo Hundt announced at the end of the inconclusive hearing. (…)
    But VW stood in the way and denied access. Reason: The association is not a collective bargaining union represented in the company. Therefore, he cannot rely on the special legal rights of a union. There are also doubts as to whether the center even has members in the company. VW produces axles there. According to its own information, the association has six members at the location with almost 150 employees. A corresponding list of members was presented at the chamber meeting.
    At Volkswagen, this is the first time that the group wants to elect its own representatives. “We have already successfully held shop steward elections in various companies,” said center founder and CEO Oliver Hilburger when asked by the German Press Agency. “We are currently planning such an election for the first time in the Volkswagen Group, which is another important step for us in expanding our trade union presence.” (…)
    In April, the association opened a regional office in Hanover to promote development in northern Germany. It is headed by Jens Keller, AfD city councilor in Hanover and staff member at the state capital's municipal waste disposal company Aha. Keller was previously a member of Verdi, but left in mid-April and switched to Zentrum. Keller said in April at the opening of the new regional office “Center North” that his goal was to halve the number of members of the “old unions” in the coming years.…”Agency report from July 31, 2025 in the FAZ online 
  • Fascist “center” sues for access to VW
    "Zentrum", the AfD's preliminary organization in the companies, is suing the Braunschweig labor court for access to the VW subsidiary Volkswagen Group Services at the Isenbüttel location in the Gifhorn district. “Centre, which describes itself as an “alternative union”, wants to have union shop stewards elected there. To do this, the organization requires access to the facility to promote the vote, distribute information materials and conduct the election.” (…)
    Even if “Zentrum” and its fascist frontman Oliver Hilburger do not get through with their lawsuit, this process shows that “Zentrum” is constantly pursuing its path to get a foot in VW and other large companies. Therefore, active trade unionists in particular must be prepared for the fact that “alternative lists” that stand for the AfD policy and are linked to the “center” will compete in the works council elections in spring 2026…”Contribution by wb from August 4th, 2025 in rf-news.de 
• Fascist company organization “Zentrum” promotes division and agitation against IG Metall
  “How bad is that? In a recent video¹, the neo-fascist Oliver Hilburger calls on VW employees to leave IG Metall en masse and move to their club. Not coincidentally, in a situation where a debate has begun among the VW workforce, also with the help of the MLPD, as to how to combat the general attack by the board. And where colleagues have shown their willingness to strike in many actions…”Report from November 16th, 2024 in the Rote-Fahne-News 
• The right-wing pseudo-union Zentrum Automobil has its best days behind it. It is now trying out new subgroups as a “center” in other industries
  “Anyone who calls the Health & Social Center will be greeted as warmly as a private patient would be at the doctor's. The lady on the hotline takes a lot of time and answers all questions. It is Anja Ortelt, a trained nurse and employee of the center. As an “alternative union,” they could advise nursing staff on disputes and also help with lawyers in the event of conflicts, says Ortelt. Your phone rings around the clock. The Health & Social Center is a subgroup of the Center association, which wants to compete with IG Metall and Ver.di. Legally, this is not a union, but it lacks, among other things, the ability to negotiate tariffs. It has its origins in the automotive industry, which is why for a long time it was simply called the Automobile Center. He is primarily active there in Baden-Württemberg, starting at the Mercedes plant in Untertürkheim. At its best, the Automobile Center provided around 20 works councils across Germany at companies such as Mercedes, BMW and Porsche.
  Today the center is less strong. The club has lost around five works council members, almost all of whom only work at Mercedes. And even there, the center has hardly been noticeable since the last works council election in 2022, says Untertürkheim works council spokeswoman Lisa Seeger. (…)
  Political scientist David Aderholz has analyzed dozens of the center's publications. If you look at these with the background knowledge of positions taken at demonstrations and conferences, they are clearly part of a right-wing narrative, he says. “The center claims there is an elite that is against the workers and the DGB unions are part of it.” (…)
  The sociologist Klaus Dörre has been researching the center and other right-wing organizations in companies for many years. These are excellent at redefining central terms of left-wing social criticism, he says. This would turn the class struggle between employers and employees into a struggle between different groups of workers. “The consequence is a division among employees and a discrediting of their unions and interest groups.” (…)
  Even if center representative Anja Ortelt's phone is supposedly constantly ringing, the apparent union is hardly known in the healthcare industry after the pandemic. The political scientist Wolfgang Schroeder observed this. How big the association actually is remains unclear, however, because the center does not publish membership numbers. According to Hilburger, “so that the DGB observers could more easily assess us and develop counter-strategies.”
  Hilburger reveals a strategy to ZEIT ONLINE: It is “almost certain” that the center will soon be active in the chemical industry. This would also allow the club to expand geographically. In mid-February, the center posted pictures on its Telegram channel of a meeting in the Ruhr area to prepare for the 2026 works council elections in the chemical industry.
  Last year, a flyer announced five additional subgroups that could be created in the future, from the Hotel & Gastronomy Center to the Education & Upbringing Center…”Article by Jonas Halbe and Joscha F. Westerkamp from April 19, 2024 in Zeit online (“Right-wing connection to the works council”)
• In the slipstream of the AfD. A look at the right-wing operating groups from Zentrum
  “Things have become quiet around the right-wing business groups at Zentrum. (…) Nevertheless, after the failure of its own employee organizations (ALARM, AVA, AidA), the center has developed into the most important operational policy project of the AfD and the new right. (…) We may be seeing the harbingers of a second phase of professionalization and expansion of right-wing business groups into other sectors and smaller companies. Because the cooperation between the center and the AfD has intensified since 2022. (…) In addition to the collaboration with the AfD, there are intensive contacts between the center and the Free Saxons. (…) Overall, we come to the conclusion that a second phase (of professionalization and expansion) is possible for the center, in which the isolation of certain regions and large automobile factories could be broken with the help of the AfD and its networks and resources - because even beyond Baden-Württemberg and Saxony, the AfD is now increasingly scoring points with industrial policy issues and is increasingly attacking the DGB unions in the media. (…) The DGB unions are increasingly faced with the dilemma of losing colleagues to the center or depoliticizing their own structures and making concessions to right-wing colleagues in order to keep them in their own ranks. We would like to reject a prevailing narrative: Good, conflict- and participation-oriented trade union work alone will not be enough to solve this problem.”Article by Jan R. and Matthias M. inexpress – newspaper for socialist company and trade union work12/2023
• Daimler Truck: Fascist “Automobile Center” abuses dissatisfaction among the workforce over retrenchment plans and job cuts despite high profits 
  “From January to September 2023, Daimler Truck AG increased truck sales by 5.6 percent compared to the previous year and the return on sales to a whopping 9.7 percent. The board's announcement that it will make cuts and eliminate jobs is also met with great dissatisfaction among the workforce. The Center Automobile Works Council list uses this for its fascist demagoguery and confusion. Karin Rådström, the board member responsible for Mercedes-Benz trucks, announced a “streamlining” of the sales organization and, for the first time, general job cuts. The general works council reports that many employees no longer understand the contradictory signals from management. (…) Against this background, the confrontation with the fascist AfD and the fascist “Automobile Center” must be intensified. “Zentrum” warns of “drive technology that is questionable in every respect and unaffordable for many... The German automotive industry will lose its technological leadership and be able to cut several hundred thousand jobs.” But there is hardly anything more questionable than the continued burning of fossil fuels. (…) The concern of “Zentrum” is Mercedes-Benz’s market leadership in luxury class sedans, which it held with combustion engines. Accordingly, the Center attacks the environmental movement, IG Metall, “which also fuels the climate and CO2 reduction hysteria“…”Report from November 28th, 2023 in the Rote-Fahne-News the MLPD (“Fascist “Automobile Center” abuses discontent”)
• No to the “vaccination strike” by “Zentrum Automobil”!
  “The fascist works council group at Daimler in Stuttgart, “Zentrum Automobil” (short: “Zentrum”), calls for a “vaccination strike” in its article “From the Wave to the Tsunami”. The reason given is: "Many colleagues are mentally exhausted. They had the mRNA therapy injected in order to lead a normal life again... The reality now: 'vaccinations' every few months, still tests for vaccinated people, still lockdown for vaccinated people, play along or be excluded." How? Vaccinations and important measures to protect against infection with the coronavirus are bringing colleagues to their “mental end”? Our colleagues certainly want an end to the pandemic and an end to the governments’ disastrous crisis management. But it is demagoguery and nonsense when the “center” assumes that colleagues are only getting vaccinated out of “good faith” and not out of insight into the need to protect their health. And why shouldn't we advocate a lockdown and mass testing to help overcome the pandemic? No doubt: In its call for a “vaccination strike,” the “center” is trying to deny the real threat posed by Corona with lies and distortions, ultimately endangering human lives on a large scale. It refers to the fascist online magazine “Compact”, which expressly does not see a “vaccination strike” as a strike to assert workers’ interests against capital, and certainly not as a fight to implement a zero-Covid strategy. Rather, it sees the need for such a “strike” because the fight must be waged against the alleged abolition of the right to physical integrity through vaccinations.(…) The focus of the article “From the wave to the tsunami” is IG Metall, ver.di and trade unions that are not organizing the demanded “vaccination strike”. Such a demand must be decisively rejected, as it is not the job of trade unions to further endanger the health of the masses through combat measures. The “Center” recommends that colleagues elect candidates who will implement this policy in the upcoming works council elections. No to the “vaccination strike”! The “Automobile Center” is not allowed to vote in the works council elections!“Post from January 18, 2022 at the Rote-Fahne-News 
• [MLPD] To the center video “The Confidentialist”: Take a clear stance against the enemies of the organized labor movement! “The YouTube video “The Confidentialist” published by “Zentrum Automobil” has caused waves in the media nationwide and continues to be an important topic in the company, as the center meetings in UT and Mettingen have shown. Daimler rightly fired two workers. They had been sending a Turkish shop steward fascist and racist messages for months and bullying him. In the video published by “Zentrum Automobil” they are instead portrayed as victims of an intrigue by IG Metall and the list leader Oliver Hilburger presents himself as a selfless works council member who helps two colleagues who have been treated unfairly. Most colleagues are rightly outraged. (…) Therefore, in this case, Daimler's termination was correct, which was also confirmed by the court. Due to the outrage among colleagues and the public, the center leadership had to backtrack at one point. In their July newsletter it is said that “a large proportion of the pictures/films sent should be rejected”. But in the video Hilburger trivializes and justifies this. (…) This is grist for the mill of fascist and fascist organizations like AfD and Zentrum Automobil. They present themselves as protest movements. In reality, they don't mess with Daimler and the other companies. At the last works meeting, Hilburger blamed the environmental movement, IG Metall, and the Marxist-Leninists with their environmental protection demands for the destruction of jobs. The Daimler board can thank Zentrum for this.The fact that he manipulated the exhaust gases and now wants to pass the consequences on to the workforce and massively cut staff in order to increase returns again - all of this remains out of Hilburger's mind. (…) Zentrum Automobil is also a critic of co-management. But its goal is the destruction of the organized labor movement when it calls for withdrawal from IG Metall. The Automobile Center is not an “alternative union,” but a “patriotic company community” with Daimler and German imperialism that “rejects the idea of ​​class struggle.” (…) Many colleagues are rightly wondering why Daimler terminates two colleagues who send fascist messages, but leaves the actual fascists untouched and does not take action against Zentrum Automobil. (…) Defend the beginnings! Not an inch from the fascists! We need a debate in the company, in the departments and in IG Metall with the aim of showing a clear edge against the center and, above all, its leadership: No to the spread of fascist and racist ideas! Decisive information about the activities and machinations of the fascist forces, such as the center and consistent persuasion of colleagues influenced by them! Impeachment and termination of works councilor Oliver Hilburger for defaming IG Metall and its representatives, supporting the agitation against Muslims and refugees, spreading fascist ideas, and collaborating with fascist and fascist forces!“Leaflet from the MLPD Stuttgart/Sindelfingen from October 2019 – otherwise full of party advertising

• [Untertürkheim] “Dead rat in the mailbox”: How a right-wing mini-union terrorizes a Daimler factory 
  “Young employees tell us about their experiences with “Zentrum Automobil”: What the right-wingers are doing here needs to be taken seriously, says Jonas – and “counter their agitation with all our strength.” Unfortunately he doesn't really know how. Here, this is the Daimler main plant in Untertürkheim. And the right-wingers are the members of “Zentrum Automobil”, a small splinter union that has been trying for some time to play off German employees against newcomers. Jonas is currently training as an electronics technician at Daimler in Untertürkheim. And now he has the right hand in front of him. Anyone who says anything against them will be massively threatened, says Jonas. “They put a dead rat in a colleague’s mailbox,” claims the 21-year-old. Since there was a threatening letter, the connection to the “center” was unmistakable. That's why Jonas doesn't want to read his real name here, for protection. “There are simply too many who have been terrorized.” “Zentrum Automobil” received a total of 13.2 percent of the votes in the last company elections in spring 2018 – and thus six of the 47 seats (Deutschlandfunk). The workforce of one of the largest Daimler locations in Germany is also represented by the right. And more than one in ten voted for her. “Zentrum Automobil” represents the hatred on the Daimler assembly line. And young left-wing trade unionists and employees with non-German roots are wondering what this means for their future. bento spoke to several employees at the main plant in Stuttgart on the phone. Everyone says: “Zentrum Automobil” has no noticeable influence on the works council, but the fact that they were elected is still shocking.The mini-union, they report, creates atmosphere and causes dissatisfaction among the employees. (…) “They behave tactically cleverly and tend to taunt on small scales.” Serkan Senol on the strategy of “Zentrum Automobil”. Senol claims that the actors are trying to stir up discord among the workforce, but without drawing too much attention to themselves. (…) When asked, the union also rejects the allegations of leaving threatening letters or even dead rats in mailboxes. With the same style, the “center” supporters also flaunt themselves online, calling other union members “worker traitors” and stirring up hatred among the workforce. For the New Right, the trade unionists are also symbolically important as dwarfs. However, Jonas, the trainee from Untertürkheim, does not believe that the “center” people will last long: “Many supporters are more people from the older semester,” says Jonas, and there is no one among the trainees who believes their slogans…”Report by Marc Röhlig from October 21, 2019 at Bento (Mirror)

• Results of the BR election at Daimler 
  • Wörth/Germersheim 
    IG Metall has emerged stronger from the joint BR election for Daimler Wörth and GLC Germersheim. In the future, 24 (+2) seats of the total 39 (-2) mandates will be available to her. 627 employees ran for the works council election on 15 different lists. The voter turnout was 59 percent, slightly lower than in 2014. In the new committee, there will be 7 lists represented in the future, one fewer than before.none of "Center"
  • At the Mercedes Benz factoryUntertürkheimVoter turnout was relatively high at almost 65 percent (plus 6 percent). According to preliminary results, the IG Metall list has 37 seats in the 47-member works council, and thus gained 3 seats more (75.7 percent). The UAG and the Offensive Metaller lost one and two seats respectively, the CGM still has a mandate.The right-wing “Centre” list gained 2 mandates and therefore has 6 mandates (13.2 percent).
  • OnSindelfingen location, the largest location with over 40,000 eligible voters, 57.5 percent of employees took part in the works council election. According to the preliminary results, IG Metall received almost 75 percent (16,992 votes) and thus has 46 of the 59 works council seats, the same as in the last term of office.The right-wing “Center” list received 764 votes, which corresponds to 3.4 percent and 2 mandates.
  • Daimler headquarters in Stuttgart: Out of 6626 votes castAccording to preliminary results, the right-wing Center list only received 108 votes and was therefore left without a mandate. The various independent and Christian lists also received fewer votes than in the last elections in 2014. The winner is IG Metall. They were able to win 4 mandates. With 22 mandates, she now has the absolute majority in the 41-member body.
  • Mercedes Benz factoryRastatt: According to preliminary results, 29 IG Metall members were elected to the 35-member works council via various lists. The Christian Metal Trade Union (CGM) did not get a seat.The right-wing extremist “Centre” list ran for the first time, received 447 votes and won three seats on the 35-member works council.

• Ducking away doesn't help - as in the fight against the right. Effectively counter the offensive of the right in the company and the union 

  On March 22nd, at the works meeting at Daimler Untertürkheim, the speeches of the center works councilors - Oliver Hilburger and Christian Schickart (pictured here) - were accompanied by shop stewards and works councilors from IG Metall with banners and T-shirts with the inscription "No place for NAZIS". Colleagues expressed their outrage at the speeches with whistles and noise. The first time that the workforce also took a clear position against the center

  In it, among other things: “Ducking away doesn't help. IG Metall gains in Daimler works council elections, but right-wing lists also. Works council elections have been completed in most Daimler plants. We have evaluated the election results for some companies. (…) Compared to the 28,000 companies in which works councils are elected from March to May, they are only represented in very few companies. The legal development in society does not seem to be so pronounced in the company, because most colleagues think it is important to have a strong union that represents their interests. They don't believe the center that they are the better representatives of interests and have therefore strengthened IG Metall. The day strikes were also good in this year's collective bargaining round because the union showed that it still has teeth and is using them to protect the interests of the employees. The best remedy against the right is a combative trade union policy! (…) Above all, this includes changing as a union, burying co-management and location logic, because they are the breeding ground for the right. We must ensure that our unions become class and struggle organizations of the working class again…”Network information from the trade union left from March 2018

• When the works council doesn't just blink on the right. An interim report on the outcome of the works council elections. The example of Daimler
  Post from March 6, 2018 by and at Stefan Sell

• “If my blue arm wants it…” Conversation with André Kaufmann about “Zentrum Automobil” and right-wing “alternatives” in companies 
  “…It's wrong to expect them to be really right-wing with correspondingly harsh statements. They don't do that. On the one hand, they act as those who take care of the small worries and needs of the employees. You have a very good feel for issues where the IGM or the works council is sometimes a bit too slow or simply has too much to do. They are also happy to accept simple cases; the more complicated ones are then happy to be sent back to IGM. They also like to walk through the hall, shake a few hands here, wish them a happy birthday there, make a joke there... They also have a good feeling for where one or two IGM-BRs may not have been in the hall or in the office with the employees as often as they should have been because they sat in meetings with management a little too often. That's exactly where they go to show themselves. On the other hand, they try to use works meetings to throw dirt on IG Metall: it is then inherently corrupt, bought, and in bed with the management. That's why new strength is needed now - and if they get the majority in the works council, everything will get better. Of course, you can promise a lot if you know that you will never have to prove it... In the context of the recent discussions about the car industry, they have acted as the savior of the diesel. They also tried to offer an event together with the AfD and the right and claimed that diesel wasn't doing so badly and that jobs would be much safer if the IGM didn't talk so much about electromobility and the transformation of the auto industry.In addition, those at the IGM are “globalization fanatics,” which is why we now have to go back to a national economic area. They don't say the latter, but they use the corresponding images. (…) But more important than the political, I think, is that they combine the content with the signal: I'm there if you have a problem. This is the basis on which political messages may then stick. Of course, in a workforce of 23,000 people there are also right-wingers who would think that would be great even without this gesture, but the combination of concern and right-wing politics, which at first only seems to be critical, is crucial. For example, I can also criticize that the IGM and some top officials could definitely differentiate themselves more clearly from top management - even if that is not always easy when you have to negotiate with the same people again. But I think it would be good to be a little more open to conflict in some large corporations, perhaps sometimes in your demeanor, in the way you dress, to be a little closer to the employees instead of wearing a tie and collar in the photo with the factory manager. If the IGM were to leave this alone, then it would strengthen the IGM and provide less of a target for these right-wing agitators. Their alternative is not a better society or a society in which class conflicts are fought openly as such, but their vision is the German company community, the principle of company managers and followers and so on. They don't say it that clearly, but you can tell where they're going.The key is not so much to always brand these people as Nazis or as right-wingers, although they certainly are to a large extent, at least the front men at the Automobile Center, but to reflect on your own work as an IGM in order to change the things that we perhaps don't do well enough. (…) The center has a program that goes well beyond the AfD, but which they do not dare to express in the company, namely national socialism, German company community, leader principle. That is their vision, and the way to achieve it is to destroy the IGM. Since such a nationwide program cannot be implemented at Daimler alone, it has to expand beyond Daimler or initially to other Daimler locations, and for this they need the support of the AfD. Now you have to know that Oliver Hilburger tried to join the AfD at his home in Althütte in the Rems-Murr district. But they said, stay away from us, you're too right for us. His program is too blatant even for parts of the AfD. (…) An example: Colleague Müller comes to IGM and wants a higher classification. The works council tries to enforce this, is blocked by the department head or whoever, then the colleague goes to the center, they in turn talk to the department head, who sympathizes with the center, and he says: Well, not really, but I now accept this as a political investment in the discrediting of IG Metall. The center can then run around the hall with it and say: Look, we did it.I don't want to accuse the entire management of this, but there are already hidden sympathies in parts of the middle management level (…) In certain areas of production, more than half have a migrant background, especially where heavy physical work is involved: foundry, assembly, etc. If you let the open racist hang out there, you certainly wouldn't get four mandates. However, as we were told, Hilburger and his followers were specifically looking for people with nationalistic or patriotic views. There is an intersection across origins, and this is how their list is made up, on which there are some people with Serbian, Croatian, Greek or Turkish roots. They have submitted a list of 187 candidates for the upcoming election to demonstrate strength and anchoring in the workforce - and among them there are a maximum of ten women. So it's more of a men's event. (…) Not a single center guy has been kicked out of Untertürkheim in the last few years. On the contrary, they don't have to endure any repression at all, but they act as if they were poor pigs who are being persecuted. The only one who was kicked out is the CGM guru from Hilburger's CGM days, whose working time fraud was exposed at some point: he cheated the company by chauffeuring his wife around Stuttgart while he was clocked in. I would like to see Nazis thrown out - but that's not happening…” See the fullInterview with André Kaufmann, operations manager at IGM Stuttgart for Daimler Untertürkheim until last summer, in theArticle by Kirsten Huckenbeck including 2 interviews““Blue as the new brown” – right-wingers call for works council elections,” published inexpress, newspaper for socialist company and trade union work, issue 1-2/2018
  • Also interesting: “…In the employee sector, there is a list called UAG, Independent Employees' Association - a similar association to the AUB at Siemens, which was prosecuted for bribes, fraud, etc. - they now have three mandates on the works council. In the offices and among the employees there is a feeling that the center is too much of a peasant theater for them. Hilburger and some of his followers also look like: Hitler will soon rise from the grave again. This is too intense for many people. They prefer something softer and with a jacket - and that's what they find in the UAG, which is connected to the center. They get along extremely well, their boss works with the center, and I believe that this is a tactical decision to pursue a two-pronged approach: a softened "center for employees" and the Hilburger faction for the commercial sector…”

• Statement from the Untertürkheim plant and car development works council: “The works council strictly distances itself from all right-wing radical and neo-Nazi ideas and the activities of individual members.” 
  “At its meeting on February 20, 2018, the works council dealt in detail with the comprehensive and current reporting on Oliver Hilburger and the “List Center” and unanimously approved the present statement: We have long been aware of the allegations that Oliver Hilburger himself admitted that he was a member of the neo-Nazi rock band “NoieWerte”. (…) In a public statement from 2010, Oliver Hilburger said that he did not describe himself as a “right-wing radical” (…) However, current reporting in the public media shows us a different picture. In clear contrast to his earlier assertions, Oliver Hilburger has been attracting attention since last year at the latest through numerous public appearances and activities on the right-wing fringe and with intensive contacts in the right-wing extremist scene. (…) In addition to Oliver Hilburger, other works council members of the Center list and members of the “Zentrum Automobil” association have been and are the subject of public media reports in recent months. (…) The negative public reporting on “Zentrum Automobil” and its works councils that has been going on for weeks has now caused considerable damage to the reputation and reputation of the employee representatives and the workforce in public. The Untertürkheim plant now appears in the media as a gathering place for neo-Nazis and a center for right-wing extremist activity. The works council therefore discussed the events in detail at its meeting on February 20, 2018 (…) A direct discussion with the works councils addressed was not possible.Instead of commenting on the press reports and discussing them in the works council, all issues remained