WOLFSBURG (dpa-AFX) - Europe's largest car manufacturer Volkswagen is facing another nationwide warning strike on Monday. Parallel to the fourth round of wage negotiations, IG Metall is calling for temporary work stoppages at all German VW locations except Osnabrück. In Wolfsburg, a protest rally with IG Metall chairwoman Christiane Benner is planned immediately before the start of negotiations.

This delays the start of the negotiations in the Volkswagen Arena. The talks are not due to start until 12.30 pm. IG Metall is defending itself against billions in cuts at Volkswagen. VW is demanding a ten percent pay cut from its employees. Plant closures and compulsory redundancies are also on the table.

IG Metall threatens further escalation

The union is demanding the preservation of all sites and an employment guarantee for the approximately 130,000 employees. IG Metall rejects wage cuts. Works council chairwoman Daniela Cavallo now expects Monday's round of negotiations to set the course: either there will be a rapprochement or further escalation.

Last Monday, almost 100,000 employees went on warning strike for two hours. The same nine locations were affected at which the strike is now being called again: Wolfsburg, Zwickau, Hanover, Emden, Kassel-Baunatal, Brunswick, Salzgitter and Chemnitz as well as the "Transparent Factory" in Dresden. Only the plant in Osnabrück is not covered by the company collective agreement that is currently being negotiated.

Only minor effects of the strike so far

After the first warning strike, VW spoke of only minor production losses. "The impact was limited," said a spokesperson. With regard to the second warning strike, VW also explained that it wanted to keep the impact as low as possible and had taken targeted measures to ensure emergency supplies./fjo/DP/he