WOLFSBURG (dpa-AFX) - Christiane Benner, Chairwoman of the IG Metall trade union, has called on the VW management to abandon its strict austerity policy. She was "furious and stunned by the actions" of the Board of Management, she said at a protest rally at the main plant in Wolfsburg in front of tens of thousands of participants. "Instead of intelligent slogans, they are offering slashing and job cuts."

"The problems are glaring," explained Benner in her speech on the second warning strike at VW. But these problems cannot be solved with plant closures, redundancies and wage cuts. It is not the employees who are to blame for the crisis, but the many wrong decisions made by management.

Accompanied by new warning strikes, representatives of VW and IG Metall are meeting in Wolfsburg this afternoon for their fourth round of collective bargaining. According to the speech script, IG Metall district manager Thorsten Groger said that if the Board of Management refuses to accept a solution, the "solidarity of the workforce at Volkswagen will be taken into the new year". "Then there will only be one answer to the cost-cutting hammer in 2025: the strike hammer!"

VW is demanding a ten percent pay cut from its employees due to sales difficulties. Plant closures and compulsory redundancies are also on the cards./fjo/DP/jha