Volkswagen and labor unions to hold talks amid wage cuts, plant closures

Volkswagen and labor representatives will engage in a fourth round of negotiations over wage reductions and potential plant closures, as tensions rise in what has become an increasingly contentious standoff.

Strikes at the automaker’s key German facilities are scheduled for Monday, intensifying the pressure,News.az reports, citing foreign media.

The latest round of negotiations, which initially kicked off in September, comes as Europe's largest carmaker seeks ways to radically cut costs in Germany to better compete with cheaper Asian rivals that have entered its home market.

Negotiations will start at around 1230 CET, while workers will stage 4-hour strikes across nine of Volkswagen's German sites, the second walkouts in a week.

"Perhaps this will bring the VW Board of Management to its senses. Otherwise we will continue to tighten the thumbscrews," the IG Metall union said in a handout to employees on Friday. "But then it will get really, really uncomfortable."

Workers, who flat out dismiss any cuts to wages or plant closures, can crank up the pressure by eventually staging 24-hour strikes and even open-ended ones in the case of a positive ballot.

Volkswagen, in turn, insists that capacity and wage cuts are needed because demand for cars in Europe has fallen while costs in Europe's top economy make it impossible for the group to compete with new rivals.

News.Az