Volkswagen staff protest against wage cuts, plant closure

 

BERLIN – German auto giant Volkswagen held a staff assembly with management on Wednesday, as employees protested cost reduction plans that could potentially result in plant closures in Germany.

More than 16,000 employees gathered at the company’s headquarters in the northern city of Wolfsburg, according to the works council.

Volkswagen said on Monday that the company could no longer rule out mandatory redundancies and plant closures as part of major austerity plans aimed at turning around the carmaker’s core VW brand.

Volkswagen has never closed a plant in Germany, and has not shut down a factory anywhere in the world since 1988. Participants at the employees’ meeting held banners accusing management of “double standards” on wage cuts and chanted “We are Volkswagen, you are not” as board members took their seats on stage.

VW chief executive Thomas Schäfer was due to address employees’ concerns at the private meeting on Wednesday. Daniela Cavallo, the head of the works council, said at the meeting that management, not employees, are to blame for the crisis at VW.

Cavallo identified clear red lines for employees, arguing that there should be no plant closures, no cuts in wages and an extension to job security.

“Volkswagen is suffering because the board is not doing its job,” said Cavallo.
Another employees’ meeting is planned for this afternoon at VW’s site in the north-western port city of Emden.