Workers of car manufacturer Volkswagen staged a protest as management and the union held talks. The negotiations on pay and conditions at Volkswagen come amid reports of job cuts and, for the first time in its history, potential plant closures in Germany. Industrial relations remain tense at Volkswagen where the management's plan of implementing drastic cost-cutting measures is clashing with union demands, including a 7% pay rise. Both sides met at Hanover where negotiations turned into talks about strict austerity measures. Ahead of the talks, the head of the works council said talks over job security were "non-negotiable". Management has rejected demands from the union IG Metall. After the three-hour talks ended, the IG Metall negotiator said that their demands and arguments had been known for months, but that the employers did not present an offer. Volkswagen's collective agreement applies to around 120,000 workers.
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