WORLD
Volkswagen workers strike at nine plants in Germany, carmaker threatens to shut factories
- IBJ Bureau
- Dec 03, 2024
Workers at nine Volkswagen (VW) car and component plants across Germany started two-hour strikes on Monday. The strikes bought assembly lines to a halt as labour and management clashed over the future of Europe’s biggest carmaker.
Workers on their morning shifts went on strike for two hours, while those on evening shift plan to leave work early in protest at the carmaker’s demands, which include a 10 per cent wage cut.
Volkswagen has threatened to close plants in Germany for the first time in its 87-year history, saying it needs to reduce costs and boost profit as European carmakers struggle with weak demand, high production costs, competition from Chinese rivals and a slower-than-expected electric vehicle transition.
At Volkswagen’s main plant in Wolfsburg, which employs 70,000 people, a two-hour strike meant several hundred cars, including the iconic Golf, could not be built, union sources said.
An agreement not to stage walkouts ended on Saturday, enabling industrial action across VW’s German plants.
In addition to Wolfsburg and Hanover, which employs a further 14,000 staff, plants affected include Zwickau, VWs EV-only plant, where workers will strike on Monday and Tuesday.
The crisis at Europe’s largest carmaker has hit Germany at a time of economic uncertainty and domestic political upheaval, as well as wider turmoil among the region’s automakers.
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