2024-09-11 13:36:30
In an unusual protest, workers at the Audi factory in Brussels stole the keys to 200 vehicles, reacting to rumors of possible closure of the business.
Audi threatened to file a complaint if the keys were not returned, warning that those responsible for the theft would be caught on surveillance cameras and punished.
The keys were eventually returned, but the problems remain. Audi – its subsidiary Volkswagen– has informed since July the 3,000 workers in Brussels that he can no longer rule out the possibility of a factory lockout. Last Tuesday, Volkswagen announced that no new models will be produced in Brussels in the coming years.
Faced with this situation, workers responded with work stoppages and unions declared a day of protest for September 16. According to Belgian news agency Belga, Audi workers want to force management to come clean about the future of the Brussels plant, where the Q8-etron electric SUV is mainly made. But demand for the once-popular model collapsed, especially in the Chinese market. However, no other models will be produced in Brussels in the coming years.
Already, “mother” Volkswagen is facing very serious problems and plans to close its factories in Germany, for the first time since the founding of the car industry 87 years ago.
To reduce costs and ensure competitiveness, the company even denounced collective agreements from 1994, mainly including job security, which excluded layoffs for operational reasons. The framework agreement for executives, the regulation on the recruitment of trainees and the temporary employment contract were also denounced.
“Historic Attack”
A deep conflict is looming at Germany’s biggest carmaker. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung even speaks of a “declaration of war on Volkswagen”, “ending the collective agreements. The workers’ union speaks of a “historic attack”. As a worker representative said, “we will vigorously defend ourselves against this historic attack on our jobs. There will be no layoffs with us for operational reasons”
VW human resources director Gunnar Kilian said, however, that Volkswagen wants to open discussions with employees. “The company is ready to promote the start of the next round of collective bargaining,” he stressed.
If no deal is reached by June 2025, Volkswagen will face significant increases in labor costs. IG Metall negotiator Thorsten Greger said the cost to the company could reach billions of euros. The reason is that if the collective agreements are terminated, the pre-1994 contract will be reinstated. This includes, among other things, longer working hours with full wage compensation, higher overtime pay and Saturday work.
‘The situation is critical’: VW’s plans for lockouts in Germany and the danger signal for the whole of Europe
“Smaller the cake”
VW boss Oliver Blume described the situation as worrying, speaking to Bild. “The situation at VW is so serious that you cannot let everything continue as before,” Blume said. At the same time, new competitors from Asia entered the market with force. “The cake has become smaller and we have more guests at the table,” said the CEO.
Blume also defended Germany as a location for the company’s factories: “We are firmly committed to Germany as a location, because Volkswagen has shaped entire generations. We have employees whose grandfathers were already working at Volkswagen. I want their grandchildren to still be able to work here.”
Undoubtedly, the European car industry is in a situation it has never faced before. The economic environment has become even tougher due to Chinese competition in electric cars.
The VW boss used a pun in German: “The word Volkswagen also contains the word ‘wagen’, which in addition to ‘car’, as a verb, means ‘to dare’… We must dare to do something again: to dare to succeed.”