Audi Brussels plant to remain closed for another week
The Audi Brussels car plant in Forest, Brussels, will remain closed next week, management announced on Friday morning at a staff meeting in concert hall Forest National. Production should resume on 2 September.
The site's management spoke to the assembled staff - about 1,300 according to unions - about the future of the plant. Production will not restart next week but staff will continue to be paid. Parts will be delivered again from Thursday, to resume production the following Monday. A new extraordinary works council meeting will follow on 5 September.
However, unions see very little willingness to resume work. “People are not willing to go back to work as long as there is no future perspective. They have clearly shown that with boos and whistles,” said Franky De Schrijver, chief representative of union ABVV-MWB.
The plant’s assembly lines have been at a standstill for several weeks. At the beginning of July, Audi’s management announced its intention to restructure its Brussels plant. Production of the Q8 e-tron began there in 2022 and was due to continue until 2027 but is at risk of being stopped prematurely. The group says no final decision has yet been taken and it is looking for an alternative for the site, which employs some 3,000 people.
Staff arrive for a meeting at the Forest National event hall in Brussels, 23 August 2024 © BELGA PHOTO VIRGINIE LEFOUR
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