Volkswagen workers in Germany to strike over plan to cut jobs and pay

Volkswagen employees demonstrate their willingness to strike in front of a plant in Zwickau last month. Photograph: Hendrik Schmidt/AP

Workers at Volkswagen factories in Germany will strike from Monday over the carmaker’s plans to lay off thousands of people, cut pay and close plants for the first time in its home country.

Announcing that “warning strikes”, which usually last a few hours, will begin at all VW plants, Thorsten Gröger, the union IG Metall’s lead negotiator with VW, said: “If need be, it will be the toughest collective bargaining battle Volkswagen has ever seen.”