Volkswagen workers boo CEO amid planned cuts
Volkswagen workers booed the company’s chief executive, Oliver Blume, during a meeting at the carmaker’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, northern Germany. The executive urged more than 10,000 employees to act together for a large-scale reorganization that could involve job cuts and plant closures.
As The Guardian World reports, participants in the meeting held placards and chanted a slogan saying their jobs should not be a tool for correcting the company’s balance sheet. Blume called the transformation program the largest in Volkswagen’s history and said the company aims to create viable prospects for all its production sites within the next six to twelve months.
Job cuts and the future of plants
The restructuring plans still need to be approved by Volkswagen’s supervisory board, which represents workers, the state of Lower Saxony and shareholders. According to witnesses of the meeting, which was closed to the media, about half of the expected workforce reductions, often estimated at around 50,000 jobs, could fall on Germany. The other half of the planned adjustments, according to these reports, would concern the group’s international operations, which include about 170 companies.
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Blume stressed that the figure for global job cuts is not a target, but a theoretical calculation based on current costs. In his assessment, Volkswagen’s costs are about 30% higher than the average level of comparable companies. Management primarily wants to use voluntary personnel measures, including phased retirement, mutually agreed settlements, natural attrition and limited hiring.
Workers’ position
Blume described plant closures as the most extreme and most expensive option. Options for preserving sites include redirecting production toward the defense industry, as well as manufacturing in Germany electric vehicles for sale in China that are currently unavailable in Europe. At the same time, vehicle production at the Osnabrück plant could end as early as next year. There are currently no plans for production after 2030 at facilities in Emden, Zwickau, Neckarsulm and Hanover.
Volkswagen works council chair Daniela Cavallo said workers are firmly opposed to closing plants, which she called an integral part of the company. She also accused Blume of explaining management’s plans unclearly. Volkswagen is under pressure from intensifying competition from Chinese manufacturers in Europe, falling sales in China and high US tariffs. The company has also long faced declining profits and excess production capacity in Europe.
