Volkswagen talks go into third round

Volkswagen workers from factories across Germany gather in front of the Volkswagen Arena, ahead of talks between unions and management on wage cuts in Wolfsburg, Germany, November 21, 2024. Management and workers at Europe's largest auto producer, Volkswagen, began a third round of talks on Thursday over proposed wage cuts, with time running out to avoid strikes at production facilities across Germany. On Wednesday, unions suggested giving up bonuses for two years and, with some factories having separate pay agreements, wage rises going straight into a solidarity fund to support less productive areas of the company while they submit to a temporary reduction in working hours. Founded as a state-owned carmaker in 1937, Volkswagen was only partly privatized and the state of Lower Saxony, in the north of Germany, still retains a major holding in the company and has a seat on its supervisory board, giving its economic health a political aspect, as well as a commercial one.