German metalworkers union IG Metall said that nearly 100,000 workers joined the strike at the German factories of Volkswagen Group, Europe’s largest automaker, to protest the company’s management’s plan to cut wages and close German factories, and threatened to take further union action.
IG Metall revealed that 98,650 employees from nine factories in Germany participated in the strike, with early shift workers striking for two hours and late shift workers planning to leave work early.
IG Metall chief negotiator Thorsten Groeger said: “This is the first big impact of the winter protests. Volkswagen Group should wake up and finally shelve its nightmare plan to close the factory.”
Sources said that Volkswagen Group has 70,000 employees at its main factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, and a two-hour strike means that hundreds of cars such as Volkswagen Golf models cannot be produced.
In addition to the Volkswagen Group headquarters in Wolfsburg and the Hanover plant with 14,000 employees, the affected factories also include Volkswagen’s pure electric vehicle factory in Zwickau, Germany.
Unless Volkswagen and the union reach an agreement in the fourth round of wage negotiations on December 9, Volkswagen’s strike may escalate into a 24-hour or unlimited shutdown, which will lead to a reduction in Volkswagen’s production, exacerbating the impact of falling deliveries and plummeting profits.
Currently, European automakers are struggling to cope with challenges such as weak car demand, high production costs, fierce competition from Chinese competitors, and a slower-than-expected transition to electric vehicles. This is the first time in its 87-year history that Volkswagen Group has considered closing its factories in Germany to reduce costs and improve profits.