Workers at nine Volkswagen car and component plants across Germany started strikes lasting several hours on Monday (December 2), bringing assembly lines to a halt as labour and management clash over the future of the carmaker's German operations.
Thousands gathered at Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg and demonstrations also took place at the Hanover plant, which employs around 14,000 people and at other component and auto plants, including Emden, Salzgitter, and Brunswick.
At Volkswagen's main plant in Wolfsburg alone, a two-hour strike means several hundred cars, including the iconic Golf, cannot be built, union sources said.
The strikes, which could escalate into 24-hour or unlimited stoppages if a deal is not struck in the next round of wage negotiations, will reduce Volkswagen's output when the carmaker already faces declining deliveries and plunging profit.
According to the works council, the fourth round of negotiations is scheduled for Dec. 9 and would either result in both sides finding common ground or an escalation.
A Volkswagen spokesperson said the carmaker respected the workers' right to strike and had taken steps to ensure a basic level of supplies to customers and minimise the strike's impact.
The union last week proposed measures it said would save 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion), including forgoing bonuses for 2025 and 2026, which Europe's biggest carmaker dismissed.
Volkswagen has demanded a 10% wage cut, saying it needs to cut costs and boost profit to defend market share as European carmakers struggle with weak demand, high production costs, competition from Chinese rivals and a slower-than-expected electric vehicle transition.
The company has also threatened to close plants in Germany for the first time in its 87-year history.
(Production: Oliver Barth, Claudia Doerries, Michele Sani)
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