Volkswagen: up to 30,000 redundancies in the automotive crisis

Last week successful Brussels, unions stood with workers astatine Audi’s mill successful Belgium, protesting the company’s program to adjacent the electrical conveyance works that erstwhile began determination arsenic a exemplary of exertion and modernity.

An manufacture successful a tense breakdown
The company, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, is facing problems that analysts spot arsenic indicative of the industry’s malaise. The genitor institution has been leaking for immoderate clip its volition to adjacent plants successful Germany itself, which could pb to the layoffs of up to 30,000 workers.

In Belgium the fig of jobs threatened is astir 3,000 and unionists are outraged. Their anger, however, is mostly directed against politicians, arsenic unionist Dominique Bray’s statements attest: “The existent culprits are the politicians, that’s clear. We tin spot that we person allowed ourselves to beryllium swallowed up by the Asian market, the Chinese market. It’s thing we shouldn’t person fto happen. All these rules connected interior combustion engines person caused america large difficulties successful the manufacture of vehicles. They wanted to determination excessively accelerated with these electrical cars.”

Call for help
The occupation is not conscionable astir this peculiar institution oregon conscionable the German automaker. Last week, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association wrote to the Commission past week calling for a relaxation of strict c dioxide emissions standards and pointing to a important driblet successful electrical conveyance income implicit the past year.

Were the Europeans successful a hurry to follow specified strict standards? Did they sprout themselves successful the knee? That seems to beryllium what Carmelo Liberto, different national spokesman, seems to think: “Because of governmental decisions, the manufacture has been abandoned successful Europe. That is wherefore we are demonstrating today.”

This is wherefore this is the crushed wherefore we are present celebrating today.
A chap commercialized unionist from the vigor sector, Philippe Lecoq, has a akin view:“European standards for the situation are precise good, but we are successful a hard presumption due to the fact that we successful Europe are the lone ones successful the satellite who are doing this. So we are sacrificing ourselves connected the altar of globalisation.”

The accusation astir a imaginable transportation of the works extracurricular Europe has angered the workers adjacent more. “With Audi, our existent exemplary is going to Mexico. So determination are policies that really favour the accomplishment of companies astatine the disbursal of Europe.”

Are tariffs a solution?
The Commission’s prime to respond with tariffs to contention from China is disputed by some experts and governments, specified arsenic Germany oregon Spain, who fearfulness the consequences of a commercialized warfare with Beijing. The equation is simply a hard one. The manufacture is gasping, workers are fearful, consumers are hesitant, and politicians proceed to marque plans connected insubstantial that often beryllium hard to enactment successful existent life. The challenges for the European automotive manufacture sometimes look insurmountable.

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