Action, action, we are taking action! Audi wants the keys back to 200 cars that angry employees of the company have ‘confiscated’.
Sadness lasts forever. Unfortunately, another piece of news today that has to do with declining demand and the resulting misery. And that comes directly from our beautiful neighboring country Belgium. That is where a VAG factory is located, where it currently produces the Audi Q8 e-tron.
A1
Previously, Audi Brussels (in Vorst) still built the Audi A1. In the better times, Prince Filip was present to celebrate and Audi was praised as a Top Employer. But those days are now far in the past. Due to declining demand, Audi had already announced that it would stop producing the Q8 e-tron in Belgium. A potential successor would then be built in China and/or Mexico from 2027.
Dismissed
However, these plans have been advanced. Other models are also not planned to be built in Belgium. So layoffs follow. This year, more than 1,400 workers should be made redundant and next year another 600 employees. Just like in our own Born, these hard workers are not happy about that. So they are taking action.
Action
Since Wednesday, there has been a strike at the factory. Apparently, 200 hostages have been taken. Fortunately, these are not people, but cars. The workers have taken possession of the keys to 200 cars on the premises. This is so that the big bad bosses cannot move these cars to, among other things, dealers.
Union
Audi does not like this and now wants to go to court to put an end to this situation. However, the ACV-Metea union regrets this and fears ‘negative reactions’ from the staff if Audi continues in this way:
We took away the keys just to be able to conduct the social consultation calmly. If the management now wanted to take away the cars, we could not guarantee safety or peace. Too bad, and I fear negative reactions from the staff.
Spokesperson ACV-Meta
Bulky waste
It seems a bit like a topsy-turvy world. As if you don’t tackle hooligans because they will then use violence. But then again, we also live in a world where workers are often just thrown out with the garbage while big capital is yielding better than ever. Visually, it doesn’t look great for Audi that it wants to move production to Mexico or China.
Well, in the end, something like this is a complex story that mainly arises when the economy is doing a bit worse. Morality is more important. Decide for yourself which side you are on in this case. Would you also like to hijack an Audi Q8 e-tron? Let me know in the comments!
