Volkswagen plans to close at least 3 German plants employee council says

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BERLIN — Volkswagen has informed employee representatives that it wants to close at least three plants in Germany, the head of the company’s works council said Monday.

Employee council chief Daniela Cavallo said at a meeting with Volkswagen workers at the company’s Wolfsburg headquarters that management also plans cuts at other sites, and pledged to resist the plans, German news agency dpa reported. She said that “all German VW plants are affected by these plans. None is safe.”

There was no immediate comment from the company itself.

Volkswagen said in early September that auto industry headwinds mean it can’t rule out plant closures in its home country, and must drop a job protection pledge in force since 1994 that would have barred layoffs through 2029. CEO Oliver Blume cited new competitors entering European markets, Germany’s deteriorating position as a manufacturing location and the need to “act decisively.”

European automakers are facing increased competition from inexpensive Chinese electric cars. Volkswagen said last month that the company’s half-year results indicated it would not achieve its target of 10 billion euros ($10.8 billion) in cost savings by 2026.

Volkswagen has some 120,000 employees in Germany, where it has 10 plants — six of them in the northern state of Lower Saxony, including Wolfsburg.

The IG Metall industrial union sharply criticized VW’s reported closure plans. “We expect that, instead of cutback fantasies, sustainable concepts for the future be sketched out by Volkswagen and its management at the negotiating table,” regional union leader Thorsten Gröger said.

Pay negotiations between Volkswagen and the union are due to resume on Wednesday.