Rolling strikes hit nine car giant Volkswagen factories across Germany for the second time this month, as Volkswagen workers protest painful proposed cuts at Europe’s biggest carmaker.
Monday’s strikes increase pressure on management on the same day that the fourth round of collective bargaining over pay cuts and threatened factory closures started Monday in Wolfsburg, VW’s headquarters.
VW executives say high labor costs in Germany are contributing to disappointing financial results, which are also buffeted by fierce competition in China and problems with the switch to electric vehicles.
The company is demanding across-the-board pay cuts of 10% for VW’s German workers, and has also threatened to close factories in Germany and cut tens of thousands of jobs.
IG Metall, the union representing most Volkswagen workers, has roundly rejected these demands and vowed to wage a bitter fight against the cuts unless management agrees to compromise.
IG Metall chairman Christiane Benner told tens of thousands of demonstrators outside the flagship VW factory in Wolfsburg on Monday that she is “furious and dismayed” by the cost-cutting course chosen by VW management.
“Instead of intelligent solutions, they offer cuts and job losses,” she said.
The union’s chief negotiator, Thorsten Gröger, warned this morning that workers are prepared to escalate the conflict with longer work stoppages if the carmaker does not make concessions.
Despite the strikes, VW management continued to stick to their demands on Monday.
“We still need cost savings that can be implemented in the short term and are sustainable,” said Arne Meiswinkel, chief negotiator for VW management, who oversees the Volkswagen brand’s human resources. “This is the only way we can remain competitive in a challenging environment.”
Meiswinkel said the company welcomed a November union proposal to forgo salary increases and offer flexibility around shorter working hours at factories, moves the union said would save about €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion).
“However, even after an intensive analysis of this counter-proposal, we have determined that it is not yet sufficient for a sustainable solution. That’s why we need to find even more potential today,” he said.
The union demands that all ten factories in Germany remain open and that the approximately 130,000 employees of the core Volkswagen brand are guaranteed employment.
The ongoing wave of four-hour strikes began at the VW factory in Wolfsburg, followed by other factories across the country.
The latest round of negotiations started early in the afternoon at the Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg.
As with the first strike action a week ago, nine factories in Germany will be affected: in Wolfsburg, Zwickau, Hannover, Emden, Kassel-Baunatal, Braunschweig, Salzgitter, Chemnitz and Dresden. The only factory not covered by the collective labor agreement is in Osnabrück.
But unlike on December 2, when 100,000 workers walked off the assembly line, the walk-offs will last four hours instead of two. Volkswagen reported only minor production losses after the first day of the strike. “The impact was limited,” said a spokesperson.
Volkswagen workers take part in an IG Metall meeting in front of Volkswagen’s headquarters during a warning strike at the German carmaker’s main plant in Wolfsburg. The banner reads: “Enough is enough, we are ready to strike.” Martin Meissner/AP POOL/dpa
