Tens of Thousands of German Auto Workers Protest to Save Jobs
The IG Metall union said almost 180,000 workers joined demonstrations as Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz face restructuring and plant closure risks.
- On Monday, auto workers demonstrated at over 280 sites across Germany, as the Metall union organized nationwide protests opposing sector-wide job cuts and factory closures.
- Growing Chinese competition, weak domestic demand, and US tariffs have pushed the German car industry into crisis, prompting IG Metall leader Christiane Benner to warn management is driving the industry "at full throttle into a brick wall."
- Speaking at a Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Benner said "things have really hit the fan," noting companies like BMW, Audi, Bosch, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche face significant viability threats.
- Daniela Cavallo, head of Volkswagen's works council, warned workers "Europe's automotive industry will be remade," stating long-established carmakers will fall as the battle over distributing sacrifices begins.
- Wolfgang Schroeder, a political scientist researching labour relations, described the protests as a sign of "real fear over the future of the industry," while Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil pressed the European Union to protect carmakers from being "naive.
143 Articles
143 Articles
About 175,000 automotive workers took to the streets yesterday in more than 280 locations in Germany to protest against severe adjustment plans and possible factory closures. Protests hit Volkswagen headquarters (which announced the dismissal of tens of thousands of employees), BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and key suppliers such as Bosch, Mahle and ZF Friedrichshafen.
Over 280 demonstrations across the country to protest against the automotive crisis. Thousands of layoffs and many closures planned, the chancellor has not yet proposed solutions except the calls to "work more." The Volkswagen group comes out of the index of the main European companies. In the decline of the company the photography of an entire industry under an existential threat
Employees in the German automotive sector have demonstrated massively throughout the country on Monday, 21 September, denouncing the increase in job cuts and factory closures.
VW Action Committee proposes a fighting programme for autoworkers in Germany: Defend every job, break with the union apparatus, no war production
The IG Metall union staged its “day of action” on 21 September, with nationwide, plant-level protests in the auto and supplier industries. The VW Action Committee has issued a fighting programme for auto and supplier workers, starting from the fact that IG Metall representatives voted through a further 50,000 job cuts at Volkswagen on 3 September.
The crisis in the German automotive industry has moved to the streets. 180,000 employees at Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Porsche and numerous suppliers have protested across Germany against factory closures and mass layoffs. What does this mean for Slovenian automotive companies, which are strongly tied to the German market? Are the jobs of approximately 40,000 employees in this industry still safe?
The IG Metall has called nationwide for a big day of action, which also followed numerous employees in NRW.
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- 34% of the sources lean Left, 33% of the sources are Center, 33% of the sources lean Right
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