Volkswagen plans plant closures and capacity cuts in Germany

The Volkswagen employees in Saxony are facing massive cuts. Current plans by the Group management envisage closing at least three plants in Germany and reducing capacity by half at the remaining sites, said Uwe Kunstmann, Head of the General Works Council at Volkswagen Saxony. "At the moment, no site is safe." This also applies to the e-car factory in Zwickau with around 10,000 employees.

Even if the plant were to remain in operation, according to the plans, production in Zwickau would only take place on one production line instead of two. In addition, the management is demanding an immediate wage cut of ten percent and zero rounds in the next two years.

All over Germany, employees are paralyzing plants?

The employees themselves are furious about these plans. In Zwickau, thousands of employees marched to the factory gates on Monday with whistles, rattles and red alarm clocks to vent their displeasure. Kunstmann demanded a concept for the future from the company management: "We will not go along with this downward spiral." He threatened that the employees would paralyze Volkswagen plants nationwide from December. Then there would be a "hot winter".

According to the Works Council, employees at all German VW sites were informed of the company's current plans on Monday - including in Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden. In Zwickau, the works council estimated that more than 6,000 employees were involved.