The renewed walk-out was timed to coincide with the next round of negotiations between unions and management over VW's savings plans.Workers at nine Volkswagen factories in Germany will strike for the second time on Monday as tensions rise between union and management over the carmaker's drastic cost-saving plans.
Almost 100,000 Volkswagen employees walked out at the beginning of this week in the first of a series of "warning strikes" organised by union IG Metall.
"We will now step up our efforts on December 9 and increase the pressure on the company at the negotiating table," IG Metall negotiator Thorsten Groeger said in a statement Thursday.
Monday's strike would see employees at Volkswagen's factories in Germany down tools for four hours, twice as long as this week's stoppage, the union said.
The renewed walk-out was timed to coincide with the next round of negotiations between unions and management over VW's savings plans.
The two sides have been locked in bitter talks since Volkswagen announced in September that it was considering closing a factory in Germany for the first time in its history.
The auto manufacturer has been hit hard by high manufacturing costs at home, stuttering efforts to shift to electric vehicles and tough competition in key market China.
Volkswagen executives have described the carmaker's situation as "serious" and argued significant cost-saving measures were needed to make the company competitive.
The crisis mainly affects the group's flagship Volkswagen brand, which employs some 120,000 people in Germany.
During negotiations, management laid out plans to close at least three plants in Volkswagen's home market, according to worker representatives.
Unions have promised vehement resistance to the plans, warning management that a failure to compromise could lead to "the toughest wage dispute Volkswagen has ever seen".
Groeger likened VW's plans to putting "redundancy letters under the Christmas tree" instead of presents.
"The company is presenting the closure of factories as its only vision for the future," Groeger said.
