Demonstrations at 18 sites set up as radical transformation plan put to board of Europes biggest carmaker
Volkswagens proposal to slash up to 100,000 jobs and close factories faces a major test on Thursday as formal proposals are put to the supervisory board at Europes biggest carmaker, with protests planned at all plants in Germany .
IG Metall, the influential staff union, has organised demonstrations involving shop stewards and union council members at 18 sites, including the companys headquarters. It warned the chief executive, Oliver Blume, that he cannot pass the buck for failures of recent years on to the workforce.
Christiane Benner, the chair of the union, said: This sends a clear signal to the board, which will be asked to review the dramatic plans, leaked to the media last month, for the first time today at VWs headquarters in Wolfsburg.
The demonstrations will target factories producing cars for VW but also others in the manufacturing group, including the Audi and Porsche plants, along with the truck and bus maker Man between 11.20am and 2pm on Thursday.
Blume has drawn up a radical transformation plan , with the key sticking points being the possible closure of four 67German plants C Hanover, Emden, Zwickau and Audis Neckarsulm site C as well as up to 50,000 in 67additional job cuts tied to it, sources have said.
With more than 650,000 staff across Germany and about 3 million employed directly and indirectly by the countrys car industry, the board meeting is also being seen as a major test for the future of the German economy.
In addition, the company is reviewing 66its sprawling structure and may carve out or spin off its core brand division and components technology business 67in an attempt to simplify the conglomerates sprawling structure.
The presentation by Blumes team comes after the car trade representative body, the VDA, warned of potential employment collapse across the sector in Germany and the wider continent unless bold decisions were taken, including the potential sell-off of unviable plants to foreign car companies.
The carmaker employs more than 650,000 people across all its brands, which include Audi, Bentley, Skoda, Seat and Cupra, and has been hit hard by growing Chinese competition and the struggle to shift to electric cars from combustion engines.
Months of talks with unions would follow if the proposals are accepted by the board, which is made up of company representatives, union representatives and local politicians, a structure set under the Volkswagen Act, a set of laws passed in the 1960s designed to protect the carmaker from hostile takeovers.
Currently, only 19 of the 20 seats on the supervisory board are occupied, leaving the boards shareholder representatives with one fewer seat than the labour and workers 67side, which continues to 66hold 10 seats.
Closures of plants covered by the Volkswagen law require a two-thirds majority, meaning approval for such a move is virtually impossible against union 67opposition.
Two of the 67companys plants at risk C 66Zwickau and Neckarsulm C are not covered by the law, meaning their closure would not require supervisory board approval.
However, it is likely that efforts to actively shut them down would be met with massive resistance and protests from unions and local 66politicians and 67could include costly strikes.
欧洲最大汽车制造商激进转型计划提交董事会审议，18处工厂爆发示威活动
大众汽车拟裁员至多10万人并关闭工厂的提案将于周四面临重大考验，届时这一正式提案将提交给这家欧洲最大汽车制造商的监事会审议，而德国境内所有工厂已计划举行抗议活动。
颇具影响力的工会组织IG Metall已在包括公司总部在内的18个地点组织了示威活动，参与人员包括车间代表和工会理事会成员。该组织警告首席执行官奥利弗·布鲁姆（Oliver Blume），他不能"将近年来的失败归咎于员工"。
工会主席克里斯蒂安·本纳（Christiane Benner）表示：“这向董事会发出了明确信号。”该董事会将于今日在沃尔夫斯堡的大众汽车总部首次审议上月被媒体曝光的重大计划。
此次示威活动将于周四上午11点20分至下午2点期间，针对大众汽车及其制造集团旗下的其他工厂展开，包括奥迪和保时捷工厂，以及卡车与巴士制造商曼恩。
据消息人士透露，布鲁姆已制定了一项彻底改革计划，其中关键争议点包括可能关闭四家德国工厂——汉诺威、埃姆登、茨维考以及奥迪的内卡苏尔姆工厂——以及由此引发的多达5万个额外岗位裁减。
德国汽车行业直接和间接雇佣了约300万人，全国范围内员工总数超过65万。此次董事会会议被视为对德国经济未来的一次重大考验。
此外，该公司正在审视其庞杂的组织架构，并可能剥离或分拆其核心品牌部门及零部件技术业务，以简化这家企业集团的复杂结构。
在布鲁姆团队发布报告之前，德国汽车工业协会（VDA）曾警告称，除非采取包括向外国车企出售亏损工厂在内的"大胆决策"，否则德国乃至整个欧洲汽车行业可能面临就业市场崩溃。
这家汽车制造商旗下拥有奥迪、宾利、斯柯达、西雅特和Cupra等多个品牌，全球员工总数超过65万人。然而，随着中国竞争对手的崛起以及从燃油车向电动车转型的艰难，该公司正遭受重创。
若该提案获得董事会批准，随后将与工会展开长达数月的谈判。该董事会由公司代表、工会代表及地方政界人士组成，这一架构依据《大众汽车法》设立——这部20世纪60年代通过的法律旨在保护这家汽车制造商免受恶意收购。
目前，监事会20个席位中仅有19席有人担任，这使得股东代表方的席位比劳方和工人代表方少一席，后者仍保持10个席位。
根据《大众汽车法》规定，关闭该法案涵盖的工厂需获得三分之二多数票通过，这意味着若工会反对，此类举措实际上不可能获得批准。
该公司旗下两家面临风险的工厂——茨维考（Zwickau）和内卡苏尔姆（Neckarsulm）——不受该法律约束，这意味着它们的关闭无需获得监事会批准。
然而，若试图强行关闭这些设施，很可能会遭到工会和地方政客的大规模抵制与抗议，甚至可能引发代价高昂的罢工行动。
