Resentment at the VW engine plant in Chemnitz over the threat of redundancies and plant closures

The threat of redundancies and plant closures at Volkswagen is causing resentment at the Chemnitz engine plant. "The workforce is angry," said works council chairman René Utoff after a works meeting. Around 1,000 employees took part in the meeting and greeted Thomas Schmall, VW's Chief Technical Officer, with a concert of whistling. Utoff criticized the fact that Schmall had not presented any new solutions, but had merely repeated the familiar. He accused VW management of playing on people's fears and adding fuel to the fire with threats. Many East Germans in particular still have negative memories of the transformation following reunification.

Volkswagen has announced that it will make substantial savings in its core brand and no longer rules out plant closures and compulsory redundancies. The background to this is overcapacity in the German factories. This means that more cars are being built than VW can sell. The solutions presented so far are unacceptable, emphasized Utoff. Instead, he sees major synergies that could be leveraged within the company to increase profitability. In addition, he believes that a 4-day week could help to secure employment.

Trade unionists: clear signal to Group management

The employees of the engine plant have sent a clear signal to the Group management that they do not agree with its current course, explained Eddie Kruppa, 1st authorized representative of IG Metall Chemnitz. Chemnitz is a very efficient location and must continue to have a secure place in the company in the future, he demanded.

In contrast to the VW plant in Zwickau, where production has been completely converted to e-cars, the Chemnitz engine plant has so far only produced engines for combustion engines. The site, which employs around 1900 people, has therefore been concerned for some time about the future of the plant in view of the planned end of new cars with combustion engines. So far, Volkswagen has held out the prospect of manufacturing components for the thermal management of electric vehicles there.