German Auto Workers Walk Out as IG Metall Warns Over Job Cuts

Thousands of German auto industry workers took to the streets on Monday in a nationwide day of action called by IG Metall, the country's largest industrial union, to protest job cuts and cost-cutting measures at automakers and suppliers.

At Mercedes-Benz's Sindelfingen plant, more than 20,000 employees marched with banners, flags and drums, according to figures cited by both the union and the company. Workers gathered outside the facility, where the Mercedes emblem stood alongside crowds of demonstrators.

Ergun Lümali, chairman of the general works council of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, told those assembled that employees were pushing back against social cutbacks and seeking security for their future. He said the starting point must be product investment at German locations.

Lümali also called on policymakers in Brussels and Berlin to address what he described as unfair competition from Chinese manufacturers and the tariff policy of the United States, saying corrective action or countermeasures were needed.

The protests extended well beyond Germany's traditional auto hubs of Wolfsburg, Stuttgart, Ingolstadt and Munich, reaching some 280 locations nationwide, according to the German news agency dpa. IG Metall said it had mobilised about 175,000 auto industry workers across the country.

The day of action came shortly before the start of collective bargaining in the metal and electrical industries, setting the stage for negotiations over jobs, investment and working conditions in Germany's flagship manufacturing sector.