Volkswagen digs in as workers threaten strikes over plant closures

HANOVER (Germany): Volkswagen flatly rejected union demands after the first round of bitterly contested talks ended without agreement on Wednesday, as workers at Europe’s largest automaker threatened strikes against layoffs and possible plant closures.

Tensions at the carmaking giant are running high as the spectre of factory closures, which would be a first for the company in Germany, has set it on a collision course with the powerful IG Metall union.

IG Metall must also negotiate new labour deals for the core VW brand’s 130,000 workers in Germany, after the group this month ended agreements that had safeguarded employment at six of its plants in western Germany since the mid-1990s.

Worker representatives have vowed to fight job cuts, blaming top management and the government’s faltering support for Volkswagen’s ills.

The VW brand’s personnel chief said the division must cut costs to stay competitive.

“This will require a contribution from the employees,” Arne Meiswinkel said after the talks in Hanover. IG Metall has threatened strikes from the start of December and is insisting on a 7% pay rise.

“Site closures and mass layoffs remain on the table,” said Thorsten Groeger, IG Metall’s chief negotiator with Volkswagen. No date has been set for the next round.

Works council chief Daniela Cavallo said workers had not moved one bit in their demands. Earlier she went back into Volkswagen’s 87-year history, referencing the expropriation of trade union funds during the Third Reich.

“With an average interest rate, this capital, which the Nazis had robbed from the labour movement at the time, would have generated billions of euros over the decades. This money, our money, is in the Volkswagen Group today,” she said.

She stressed a preparedness to compromise, but added it was up to management to find a solution.

Some of the more than 3,000 workers outside the venue held up signs saying: “Shortage of skilled workers on the board - we are looking for experts.” Others lit flares and one was dressed as the grim reaper.