Volkswagen workers in Germany took a step closer to strike action on Thursday, after unions and management met for the third round of talks over the ailing carmaker’s drastic cost-cutting plans.
Despite progress in the negotiations, representatives from the IG Metall union indicated they would move to start “warning strikes” from December 1.
Volkswagen, whose brands range from its core VW models to Porsche and Skoda, is battling challenges including high costs at home, slowing sales in key market China and a problematic transition to electric vehicles.
Thursday’s talks were the third round since September’s bombshell announcement that VW was mulling unprecedented factory closures in Germany.
IG Metall went into the meeting with proposals it said would save 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in labour costs without the need for site closures.
Union negotiator Thorsten Groeger told reporters after the talks that the management side had agreed to evaluate the …