Negotiations between Volkswagen and the metalworkers' union have come to a standstill, with no openings at the negotiating table.
IG Metall announced on Sunday that the peace obligation expires on Monday night, and that they are therefore calling for a nationwide strike.
Warning strikes will begin at all factories on Monday. How long and how intense the strikes will be depends on Volkswagen's (management) and whether they show responsibility at the negotiating table, says IG Metall's regional leader and chief negotiator in the state of Niedersachsen, Thorsten Gröger, according to the German media company ARD.
All production
According to the union, the strike will mean that all production is stopped at Volkswagen's factories.
Volkswagen announces through a spokesperson that they have prepared for a strike, in order to try to minimize the impact through increased inventory.
The spokesperson emphasizes, according to German ARD, the union's right to call a strike:
"Volkswagen respects the employees' right to participate in a warning strike".
Volkswagen's management has previously announced comprehensive savings packages, demands for lower wages, streamlining, and that factories in Germany will be closed. One reason for Volkswagen's crisis is increased competition from mainly China.
Closing factories
Volkswagen presented the streamlining measures in September. Since then, management and the union have been in negotiations.
"If necessary, this will become the largest collective bargaining struggle that Volkswagen has ever been involved in", IG Metall announced on Sunday.
Volkswagen has 120,000 employees in Germany alone.
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