Volkswagen is facing widespread protests across 18 German production sites on Thursday as executives present a restructuring plan to the supervisory board.
The proposal includes slashing up to 100,000 jobs and closing factories, according to The Guardian.
The staff union IG Metall organized demonstrations involving shop stewards at multiple manufacturing plants, including the company headquarters in Wolfsburg.
Union leadership emphasized that the mass demonstrations serve as a direct warning to the corporate board members reviewing the leaked corporate restructuring proposals.
"This sends a clear signal to the board," said Christiane Benner, chair of the union.
The union criticized Chief Executive Oliver Blume regarding the proposed workforce reductions, accusing him of passing the buck for failures of recent years onto the workforce.
The demonstrations targeted factories producing Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche vehicles, alongside truck manufacturer Man. These coordinated rallies took place across the various manufacturing facilities between 11:20 a.
m. and 2:00 p.
m. on Thursday.
Chief Executive Blume outlined plans to potentially close four German facilities in Hanover, Emden, Zwickau, and Neckarsulm.
The restructuring includes up to 50,000 additional job cuts tied directly to these factory closures.
The automotive manufacturer is also reviewing its corporate structure to simplify operations. Executives are considering carving out or spinning off its core brand division and components technology business.
Furthermore, the car trade representative body warned of a sector-wide employment collapse across Europe without major industrial changes.
"Bold decisions" are needed, stated VDA, the car trade representative body.
Volkswagen operates with over 650,000 global employees across brands like Audi, Bentley, Skoda, Seat, and Cupra.
The manufacturer faces intense market competition from Chinese automakers alongside an ongoing difficult transition toward electric vehicle manufacturing.
Currently, only 19 of the 20 seats on the supervisory board are occupied by representatives.
This leaves shareholder representatives with one fewer seat than the labor and workers' side, which holds 10 seats.
Under the historic Volkswagen Act, closing protected German plants requires a strict two-thirds supervisory board majority.
While the Zwickau and Neckarsulm plants lack this specific protection, union leaders have threatened massive resistance and costly strikes.
