Hundreds walk out in wildcat strike at MINI car manufacturer VDL Nedcar

The morning shift staff of car factory VDL Nedcar in Born are on a wildcat strike and will not work on Wednesday. The participating employees decided that together, director Ron Pters of FNV Metaal said. Many hundreds of workers are standing outside the factory, refusing to resume work. The action follows failed negotiations between trade unions and VDL on a social agreement on Tuesday, with thousands fearing they will lose their jobs.

According to employees, they stopped work spontaneously after the morning shift had started. “If there is no proper answer from the management today, we will be here again tomorrow,” said Belgian ABVV trade union member and Nedcar employee Peter Didden at the gate on Wednesday morning. “And there will be blockages.”

There is a volatile atmosphere now, and people are furious with the management by VDL’s owner. They feel cheated and are extremely angry because, on Tuesday, they set the assembly line to move faster at a time when management’s negotiations with the unions failed, the workers said.

“We're running out of steam," an employee at the gate told the journalists gathered there. "And then they act surprised that there is such a high absenteeism here."

The decision to go on strike was taken unanimously by the staff. "The people have given their hearts to the company," said another angry employee at the gate. "And now we don't get any respect from the management in Eindhoven. We're just numbers, that's all."

“We are sick and tired of being treated like this,” Didden said. "We all know it's over. But we won't let ourselves be fobbed off like a garbage bag that you put out on the street. We won't accept that. I've been working here for almost 40 years. I've been through a lot. We've had a lot of ups and we've had our downs, but we've never experienced anything like this."

The unions and VDL have been talking since last week in anticipation of possible mass redundancies later this year. The contract with BMW to produce MINIs in the Limburg car factory expires at the beginning of next year. There are no prospects for another car brand to take its place.

The future for VDL’s 3,800 employees is not bright, the unions fear.

Both sides blame each other for the failure of the negotiations. According to VDL, the unions make unrealistic demands regarding a social plan. According to the unions, VDL refuses to meet them halfway and take them seriously. Negotiators from trade unions CNV and FNV said on Tuesday that the factory was heading for closure.