Workers at Europe’s largest carmaker, Volkswagen, are set to launch rolling strikes at nine plants in Germany for the second time in a week on Monday.
The strikes ratchet up the pressure on management on the same day that the fourth round of negotiations over pay cuts and factory closures gets under way.
IG Metall, the union representing most Volkswagen workers, is rejecting the company’s call for employees to accept a 10% reduction in salaries in order to help the carmaker remain competitive.
The union is demanding that all 10 plants in Germany remain open and that the approximately 130,000 employees at the core Volkswagen brand receive a guarantee of employment.
The rolling wave of four-hour strikes will start at the Wolfsburg plant in the morning, the union said. At 12:30 pm (1130 GMT), the latest negotiation round starts in the Volkswagen Arena in the city.
Like the first strike action a week ago, nine factories in Germany will be affected – in Wolfsburg, Zwickau, Hanover, Emden, Kassel-Baunatal, Braunschweig, Salzgitter, Chemnitz and Dresden. The only plant not covered by the collective bargaining agreement is in Osnabrück.
But unlike on December 2, when 100,000 workers left the assembly lines, the walk-offs will last four hours instead of two. Volkswagen reported only minor production losses after the first strike day. “The impact was limited,” said a spokesman.
