WORKERS at nine Volkswagen plants in Germany launched a series of rolling two-hour strikes today in resistance to a programme of pay cuts and factory closures.

Volkswagen says the swingeing cuts are necessary to cope with a slack European car market.

The so-called warning strikes included the company’s base plant at Wolfsburg, where workers were set to rally against a cost-cutting drive by the car-maker’s management in which they face the threat of the company’s first plant closures in its home country.

These warning strikes, a common tactic in German wage negotiations, are taking place as part of talks for a new agreement after a mandatory peace period that bars strikes expired on Sunday. 

The IG Metall industrial union said any job actions beyond those occurring on Monday would be announced later.

The company is demanding a massive 10 per cent pay cut for 120,000 German workers and has said it can’t avoid shedding factory capacity that is no longer needed. 

The workers’ representatives say the company has proposed closing three of its German plants.

Thorsten Groger, the regional leader of the IG Metall industrial union in Lower Saxony, where Volkswagen is headquartered, said that the company won’t be able to “overlook” the walkouts. 

He added: “If necessary, this will be one of the toughest conflicts Volkswagen has ever seen.”

The company hasn’t publicly detailed its plans but is facing a drop in demand in Europe. Volkswagen built factories to supply a European car market of 16 million in annual vehicle sales, but now faces demand for around 14 million, Volkswagen brand head Thomas Schaefer was quoted as saying in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. 

The walkouts began at a plant in Zwickau in eastern Germany and were to continue at plants in Braunschweig, Chemnitz, Dresden, Emden, Hanover, Kassel and Salzgitter.

The next negotiations between unions and management are scheduled for December 9.