Whistles, union flags and lit torches. This is how the protests at the Porsche plant in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen began at midnight, adding to the strike call by the IG Metall union. “I can only warn all board members and all those at the top of the company: don’t mess with us, don’t mess with the VW workforce,” the head of the VW works council threatened to applause. Volkswagen, Daniela Cavallo, at the Osnabrück plant, which has also joined the strike. Barely having expired the truce agreed upon by the sector, the labor conflict paralyzes the industry again at the beginning of the third round of salary talks, in which Volkswagen adopts a position of strength with the announcement of its drastic savings plans, which involve the closure of three plants in Germany, salary cuts and massive layoffs. Related News standard No Volkswagen plans to close three factories in Germany and end “tens of thousands” of jobs The plan includes a 10% salary cut for all employees and the transfer abroad of numerous activities of the IG Metall group requires a salary increase of 7% and the employer offers 3.6%, but the background of this salary negotiation is the difference with any of the previous ones. Companies suffer from weak production values and lack of orders. China is already ahead of the German automobile sector on all fronts, the pillar of the German industry, and, worst of all, there is no indicator in sight that would allow us to foresee a recovery of a sector strangled by energy prices. There is only one factor that worries everyone involved even more: the German government’s inability to come to terms with itself. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for an emergency “economic summit” of representatives of unions and employers, in search of quick measures. But the discord within his “traffic light coalition” has reached such a level that neither his Economy Minister, Robert Habeck, a member of the Greens, nor his Finance Minister, the liberal Christian Lindner, are invited to the summit. “I would have liked to attend, but the chancellor has considered it this way,” complained Lindner, who for his part has organized an “alternative summit” and has invited representatives of business associations and medium-sized companies to a talk with his group. parliamentary. Habeck, who proposes a German state fund to promote new investments in companies that Lindner opposes, already organized his own “industrial summit” at the end of September, which ended without agreements or announcements, as the two that are being held today are expected to end. they celebrate. The leader of the opposition, at the head of the conservative CDU, Friedrich Merz, has declared for his part that “we are in constant contact with economic agents and we do not need to improvise summits to find out how things are” and has asked the government ” a minimum of unity.” »The most urgent thing is that they stop these Kindergarten games as soon as possible and deal with the economy, not from idolology but from necessity.« The main business representatives also urge the coalition to agree on a common approach to stimulate the economy, which for the second year it will close December in technical recession. “The economic data calls us to hurry,” says Jörg Dittrich, president of the Central Association of German Craftsmen, “a common, coherent and coordinated government plan is necessary, without partisan or fragmented electoral campaign tactics.” Businessmen give priority to the need for an economic policy concept that is fully supported by the government. “There is no time for this theater,” the regional president of Rhineland-North Westphalia, Hendick Wüst, has also criticized. The general director of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Martin Wansleben, regrets that “the bad economy has fully affected companies and no general debate will help now, only concrete measures: first of all, deciding on the federal budget, in secondly, finally accelerate planning and, thirdly, concretely implement the growth initiative. From the association of mechanical engineers VDMA, its general director Thilo Brodtmann warns that, “in addition to the economic aspects, the summit should also address the structural challenges that currently hinder investments and innovation in Germany and Europe.” In the area of taxes, he mentions the reduction of bureaucracy and the shortage of qualified workers, which do not require large financial outlays. »If the federal government bundles all of this into one package, it would be a major sign that the economy’s problems are being taken seriously and would be a real morale booster.« The president of the Federal Association of Liberal Professions, Stephan Hofmeister, has said that “there is no time for partisan jokes.”
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