Unions vow 'bitter resistance' as Volkswagen talks begin

Volkswagen bosses and workers’ representatives started crunch talks Wednesday about the ailing German auto titan’s drastic cost-cutting plans, with thousands of staff staging a protest and unions vowing “bitter resistance”.

Europe’s biggest carmaker shocked employees early this month when it said it was weighing the unprecedented step of closing factories in Germany as well as deep job cuts.

The move has triggered fury from staff representatives, who accuse VW’s corporate leaders of mismanaging the 10-brand group and putting profits above building a sustainable future for the manufacturer.

The trouble at Volkswagen has come as a heavy blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government at a time the domestic economy is already struggling.

After Volkswagen’s bombshell announcement, negotiations on a new pay deal were brought forward by a month.

Ahead of the talks in Hanover, Thorsten Groeger, lead negotiator for union IG Metall, told assembled workers that it was the first time in decades that management was weighing “site closures and mass redundancies”.

He charged that VW’s management, which had already moved to axe a decades-old job protection agreement, was seeking to scare staff as they attempt to push through cuts.

“Anyone who sows fear and gambles with the future of our colleagues will reap bitter resistance,” vowed Groeger. “You don’t build the future with fear — you destroy it with fear.”

Daniela Cavallo — head of the powerful works council at VW — warned that unions still maintain a “strong influence” at Volkswagen.

“At Volkswagen, profitability and job security are corporate goals of equal rank,” she said in a speech, as some 3,000 workers rallied outside the building in Hanover, waving IG Metall flags and banners.

The Volkswagen Group also includes a range of other brands, from Seat and Skoda to Porsche and Audi.