Fast Technology News, November 4 — According to reports, Germany's metalworkers' union has expanded nationwide strike action this week, with Volkswagen's Audi, Mercedes-Benz Group, Schaeffler, and other companies successively hit by worker stoppages. The labor dispute involves approximately 3.7 million employees in total, and tensions have escalated rapidly since the mandatory truce period expired at the end of October.

The union is demanding a 5% pay raise within 12 months, along with measures to protect jobs and production sites. Employers' proposals remain far apart: a one-time subsidy equivalent to 1% of total annual salary to be paid in 2027, and a 1.3% pay raise starting July 2028. With the gap between the two sides still wide, the third round of negotiations is scheduled to begin this Thursday.

Mercedes-Benz's plant in Marienfelde, Berlin, was the first to face warning strikes, with workers gathering at the factory to voice their demands. Mercedes-Benz had previously warned in October that at least two German plants could face closure, citing continuously rising labor costs that are eroding the competitiveness of domestic production. In July, Mercedes-Benz also postponed the payment of a "transition subsidy" equivalent to 18.4% of monthly salary for approximately 90,000 German employees and planned to streamline its management structure.

Workers at Audi's headquarters plant in Ingolstadt joined a brief stoppage on Monday night. Employees cited continuously rising living costs, with pressure from energy and fuel prices especially prominent. The controversy over Audi CEO Gernot Döllner's appearance at U.S. President Trump's campaign rally last month continues to simmer.

On October 24, Döllner shared the stage with Trump at a rally in Perry, Georgia, announcing Audi's first U.S. plant, with an investment of 4.2 billion U.S. dollars (Fast Technology note: approximately 28.1 billion yuan), to be located in Macon with an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles. The head of IG Metall angrily criticized the move as "deeply embarrassing," saying it violated the German corporate convention of political neutrality. The union demands that employers provide long-term guarantees for German plants.

The supplier level is equally grim. German auto parts giant Schaeffler announced on November 3 that it will close 5 plants in Europe and lay off 3,460 people, with about three-quarters of the positions in Germany, involving 4 German plants and 1 Belgian plant.

Schaeffler expects the move to incur restructuring costs of about 300 million euros (about 2.3 billion yuan). Employer representatives warned in the latest round of negotiations that unless Germany can substantially reduce hourly labor costs, larger-scale layoffs will be inevitable.