Shouts of "Ugh" for VW Board of Management - loud protest in Zwickau

Around 5,000 employees protested loudly against the threat of redundancies and plant closures at the Volkswagen e-car factory in Zwickau. Before the extraordinary works meeting, brand board member Thomas Schäfer was greeted with shouts of "Boo" and "Ugh" and booed by the employees. "The trust is gone," said one employee who says he has worked here for 30 years.

Volkswagen announced on Monday that it would have to make substantial savings at its core brand. The previously planned job cuts through partial retirement and severance payments would no longer be sufficient to achieve the savings targets. Plant closures and compulsory redundancies at the core VW brand are no longer ruled out, Europe's largest car manufacturer announced. The agreement reached with the works council to safeguard jobs will be terminated. This excluded compulsory redundancies until 2029. For the first time in 30 years, there could now be redundancies at VW.

VW employees fear for their jobs

Since then, fear has been spreading among many employees - including at the Saxon sites in Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden with around 11,000 employees. They have to take the blame for the management's mistakes, complains one employee who is venting her displeasure with a large banner in Zwickau. "I was always proud to work at VW," she says. But now many in her team are worried about the job they thought was safe. Many have loans to pay off, for example for their house, and children. Many colleagues are specifically afraid of losing their jobs, says another protester.

The Zwickau plant is Volkswagen's largest site in Saxony and has been completely converted to electric cars in recent years with immense investments. It is a pioneer in electromobility within the Group and also produces for Audi and Cupra. However, sales have fallen short of expectations, meaning that the contracts of hundreds of temporary employees have not been extended and the night shift on the two assembly lines has been canceled.

Back in the spring, it was announced that VW was considering ending vehicle production at the Transparent Factory in Dresden. According to the information provided, no decision has yet been made. The ID.3 is assembled there in small quantities by around 340 employees.