So-called warning strikes—temporary walkouts designed to manage pressure during deadlocked negotiations—are happening at all but one of VW’s German plants, starting with the company’s flagship electric-vehicle factory. , which is in Saxony. Shares of VW fell as much as 1.9%.
“If necessary, this would be the toughest collective bargaining war Volkswagen has ever seen,” Thorsten Groser, lead negotiator for the IG Metall union in the VW talks, said ahead of the rally.
VW’s management and labor leaders are at loggerheads over how to confront declining demand for electric vehicles, higher operating costs and increasing competition from Chinese manufacturers. While management has said the company needs to close three German factories and lay off thousands of workers, union representatives have pushed to keep the plants open.
The carmaker experienced small-scale walkouts at all sites during the pandemic in 2021, but a major work stoppage during wage negotiations in 2018 saw more than 50,000 workers at six factories participate.
At VW’s main plant in Wolfsburg, workers are leaving their stations or ending their overnight shifts to take part in a rally in front of management’s offices, where works council head Daniela Cavallo will speak.
A Volkswagen spokeswoman said Sunday that the company is seeking a constructive dialogue to achieve a jointly supported solution, adding that the company has taken specific measures in response to the planned walkout.
Volkswagen on Friday rejected unionists’ most recent proposals to avoid factory closures as insufficient.
“Volkswagen has torched our collective agreements,” Gröger said, adding that actions by management were making the situation worse.
VW’s corporate structure gives workers a strong voice in important decisions, making it difficult for management to unilaterally push through painful cost cuts. Employee representatives occupy half of the company’s supervisory board seats, while VW’s home state of Lower Saxony holds an additional two seats.
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