VW Crisis: State Government Meets Works Council

Niedersachsen's Minister President Olaf Lies is set to visit the Volkswagen plant in Hannover on Monday evening. The trip aims to gauge the mood at the struggling automaker and discuss the future of the company and its locations.

Lies will meet with members of the general works council, employee representatives, and local plant management. This visit follows invitations from the general works council. Following the discussions, Lies, along with Vice-Governor Julia Willie Hamburg, General and Group Works Council Chair Daniela Cavallo, and representatives from the local works council and the IG Metall union, will brief the press.

Volkswagen is currently implementing cost-cutting measures to improve competitiveness. This has raised concerns among employees, unions, and politicians about tens of thousands of jobs and the future of plants in Emden, Hannover, Zwickau, and Neckarsulm. They are demanding swift clarity and the avoidance of drastic actions, such as plant closures. Visits to VW plants in Osnabrück and Emden are also planned, with a digital exchange scheduled for the Zwickau plant. Nine employee assemblies are planned across VW in the coming days.