Nine Volkswagen plants shut down due to the strike

In Germany, workers at nine plants of the Volkswagen concern, producing cars and components, began a strike on Monday, causing the assembly lines were stopped. This was reported by Reuters on December 2.

Employees working the morning shift went on strike for two hours. Those working the evening shift plan to leave work early. The strike is being held to protest Volkswagen's plans to cut wages by 10%.

For example, at Volkswagen's main plant in Wolfsburg, where 70,000 people work, a two-hour strike would mean halting production of many models, including the popular Golf. Employees at the Zwickau plant, where electric cars are produced, plan to strike on Monday and Tuesday.

The decision in favor of a large-scale strike was made by the leadership of the IG Metall union after another round of negotiations with the company's management came to nothing. According to Daniela Cavallo, head of Volkswagen's works council, a fourth round of talks is scheduled for December 9 and will lead to either the parties finding common ground or escalation.

Volkswagen is planning to close plants in Germany for the first time in its 87-year history. The company explained that it is willing to take this step to cut costs and increase profits. European automakers are facing weak demand, high production costs, competition from Chinese automakers and a slower-than-expected transition to electric vehicles.

Earlier on Oct. 30, Volkswagen, during talks with the IG Metall union, offered to cut workers' wages by 10 percent to save jobs. The company said it could not meet the union's demands, which included a 7% wage hike and reinstatement of collective bargaining agreements. Before that, on October 29, Volkswagen and BMW employees began the first wave of strikes in Germany.

Prior to that, on October 28, Volkswagen Group said it was going to close three plants in Germany and cut tens of thousands of employees as part of the reorganization and to reduce costs. It was reported that the measure will affect plants in Osnabrück, Dresden and Emden. In the government of Germany, the probable reason for these measures called wrong decisions of the concern's management and called to save as many jobs as possible.