Volkswagen, huge strike against cuts. The unions, "it will be a very tough battle"

Volkswagen employees have been called to suspend work from today, Monday 2 December, in German factories to oppose the thousands of planned job cuts. This was announced by the IG Metall union. “If necessary, this will be there contractual battle toughest collective that Volkswagen has ever known”, warned the union negotiator, Thorsten Groger, in a press release issued at the end of the mandatory social dialogue period for 120 thousand employees of the brand.

Two days ago, the manufacturer, which is preparing a drastic savings plan, rejected a union counter-proposal aimed at reducing costs without having to close factories in Germany, leading to a tightening of social dialogue. “Warning strikes will begin in all factories,” said Groger, who holds management “responsible, at the negotiating table, for the duration and intensity of this confrontation.” In a separate statement, Volkswagen said it “respects ‘the right of employees to participate in a warning strike'” and said it believes in continued “constructive dialogue” to “reach a lasting and collectively supported solution.”

The company specifies that it has “anticipated targeted measures to guarantee emergency supplies” during the move, in order to “limit as much as possible” the impact “on our customers, our partners and our industrial plants”. While Volkswagen announced in September that it was working on a program to restore its competitiveness, ongoing discussions between management and union officials, according to the principle of co-management, have failed to reach an agreement on restructuring measures. Workers’ representatives presented a counter-proposal in November which provided for the suspension of bonuses, salary increases and the reduction of working hours, thus allowing, according to them, to avoid the closure of factories in Germany and mass layoffs.

But this offer was not considered feasible by the management. Staff representatives say that at least three Volkswagen plants are at risk of lockdown in Germany and tens of thousands of jobs could be lost, with remaining employees having to agree to pay cuts. In the country, Volkswagen has ten or so car manufacturing plants 300 thousand employees, of which 120 thousand from the Vw brand, the most affected by the savings plan. The flagship of the German automotive industry, Volkswagen is suffering, according to experts, from the market slowdown of new vehicles, due to Chinese competition, battery models that are not sufficiently attractive and higher labor costs than competitors.