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 @ISIDEWITHNewsDaily DiscussionChinaLabor UnionsEuropeGermanylaborCollective Bargaining•••7mos ago

Volkswagen Faces Explosive Strikes Over Plant Closures and Job Cuts

Tens of thousands of Volkswagen workers will participate Monday in strikes at plants across Germany, labor union IG Metall said, marking the largest walkouts at the carmaker’s domestic operations since 2018.

The walkouts, which are planned to last several hours, follow weeks of collective bargaining negotiations during which VW refused to rule out mass layoffs and potential plant closures in its home market — drastic measures the company says are necessary to prop up its fortunes amid competition from China and weaker European demand.

A so-called “peace obligation” between workers and the company, which prohibited industrial action, expired on Saturday, allowing strikes to take place from Sunday at virtually all of Volkswagen’s German factories.

“If necessary, this will become the toughest wage dispute Volkswagen has ever seen,” IG Metall’s chief negotiator Thorsten Groeger said in a statement Sunday. “How long and intense this dispute will be is Volkswagen’s responsibility at the negotiating table.”

“Volkswagen has set our collective bargaining agreements on fire, and instead of extinguishing this fire during three rounds of negotiations, the management board keeps throwing open barrels of gasoline onto it,” he added.

The walkouts will be the first large-scale strikes that Volkswagen has faced since 2018, according to IG Metall, when 50,000 workers idled plants over pay. Although the work stoppages will last only a few hours, it is possible that 24-hour warning strikes could be called later this year. Indefinite strikes could also be called as a last resort, but only after members have been consulted again, IG Metall said.

The strikes represent a fresh headache for Europe’s largest automaker, which saw operating profit for the first nine months of the year tumble by a fifth from the previous year, as its flagship brand struggled. Vehicle sales also slipped on particularly weak demand in China, where it is losing market share to Chinese electric vehicle brands.

6 Replies

 @FabulousPolentaLibertarianfrom Florida  commented…7mos7MO

Gotta love the plan to strike to keep plants open

 @972459KEco-Capitalism‎ from California  commented…7mos7MO

So going on strike will make the situation better??? Even more losses and even less money/productivity to pay workers? So then VW needs to lay off even more?? Makes sense…

 @GranolaEliSocialist from New York  commented…7mos7MO

VW has 2 possible choices ... cheering for the workers or the ones who own their debts.

They clearly made a choice long ago ... a slow agony.

 @CheerfulCowDemocrat from Texas  commented…7mos7MO

Imo. It sounds better towards shareholders "Production was lower due to strikes" than "The demand is very low and we are shutting down production to get rid of inventories". Is this organized from the top?

 @ExuberantSeahorseRepublican from Illinois  commented…7mos7MO

You got to love unions, socialism, and neo-marxism: Workers are afraid about mass layoffs, so they decide to harm their employer by laying down work and bringing productivity to an absolute halt.

 @BuzzardSkylarTranshumanist from Tennessee  commented…7mos7MO

There will be mass layoffs, pay cuts and possible plant closures with how VW is operating its business, and no walkout is going to change that.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…9mos9MO

Iran Warns to U.S. Allies Don’t Help Israel, or You’re Next

Tehran is threatening in secret diplomatic backchannels to target the oil-rich Arab Gulf states and other American allies in the Middle East if their territories or airspace are used for an attack on Iran, said Arab officials.Israel has threatened Tehran with a severe reprisal after Iran fired about 180 ballistic missiles at Israel earlier this month, with some Israeli officials and commentators pushing for damaging strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities or oil infrastructure. In that event, Iran has warned it would respond with devastating hits on Israel’s civilian infrastructure, and would retaliate against any Arab state that facilitated the attack, the officials said.The Arab officials said the countries that Iran has threatened include Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, all of which host U.S. troops. These states have told the Biden administration that they don’t want their military infrastructure or airspace to be used by the U.S. or Israel for any offensive operations against Iran, the officials said. While the Iranian threats are vague, they have raised concerns in energy-rich Persian Gulf states that their oil facilities—long viewed as protected by an American security umbrella—could be hit, the Arab officials said. U.S. military installations and forces in the region could also be at risk in a region with one of the highest concentrations of American troops in the world, they added.While the Iranian threats are vague, they have raised concerns in energy-rich Persian Gulf states that their oil facilities—long viewed as protected by an American security umbrella—could be hit, the Arab officials said. U.S. military installations and forces in the region could also be at risk in a region with one of the highest concentrations of American troops in the world, they added.

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