Volkswagen workers plan to launch rolling four-hour strikes on Monday, ratcheting up the pressure on management on the same day that a fourth round of negotiations over pay cuts and factory closures gets under way.

The IG Metall workers union said it would increase the pressure ahead of a fourth round of negotiations in the labor dispute. The union accused VW management of 'slipping layoffs under the Christmas tree.

Volkswagen workers will go on extended strikes on Monday, stepping up a bitter dispute with management over layoffs and what would be the first factory closures on German soil for Europe's largest carmaker,

STORY: Workers at nine Volkswagen plants across Germany brought production to a standstill on Monday (). They went on strike for several hours in an intensifying standoff over wages and the future of the carmaker's operations.

The head of  Volkswagen’s works council Daniela Cavallo has made it clear that the IG Metall union and the works council do not want to fight but “let off steam”.

Volkswagen's CEO and labour boss clashed during a staff meeting on Wednesday, with management pushing for major cuts while workers warned of more strikes if plant closures remain part of wage negotiations at the embattled German automaker.

Tens of thousands of Volkswagen workers are taking part in strikes at plants across Germany Monday, marking the largest walkouts at the carmaker’s domestic operations since 2018.

Unsurprisingly, the VW unions are pushing back hard, with today’s two-hour strikes at factories in Wolfsburg, Hanover, and the EV-manufacturing plant in Zwickau signalling the first salvo after an agreement not to stage walkouts ended on Saturday.

Following widespread strikes by Volkswagen employees this week, a turbulent meeting over major cost-cutting plans was expected at the carmaker's German headquarters on Wednesday. Chief executive Oliver Blume was due to address workers at the plant in Wolfsburg,