Workers blockade Audi Brussels plant as uncertainty over future continues
Dozens of workers at the troubled Audi Brussels plant in Forest demonstrated outside the factory on Monday morning, unions and police confirmed.
About 100 people blocked the entrance to the site on Boulevard de la Deuxième Armée Britannique. Police and the mayor of Forest are in talks to divert traffic and make the area safe.
The protest follows management’s announcement on Sunday evening that it would keep the plant closed until workers agreed to resume production “normally” and ship cars to dealers.
Assembly lines have been at a standstill since July, when management announced its intention to restructure the plant. Production of the Q8 e-tron model began there in 2022 and was due to continue until 2027 but is at risk of being stopped prematurely. The group says no decision has been taken and it is looking for an alternative for the site, which employs some 3,000 people.
Sor Hillal, general secretary of the FGTB Métal union, confirmed to Belga that several dozen people had spontaneously turned out in front of the plant in response to Sunday’s announcement.
“Management must withdraw this announcement immediately,” he said. “Our delegates are in discussions today and tomorrow morning to assess the situation and organise the reaction to this aggressive and completely intolerable communication from management. We will not stand idly by.”
ACV Metea union spokesperson Ronny Liedts believes management is organising a lockout, in contravention of social dialogue rules. He is threatening legal action because staff will no longer receive wages.
According to Audi Brussels spokesperson Peter D’hoore, there are fewer workers willing to work than unions say and too few to operate the plant.
Workers block the entrance to the Audi Brussels plant, 9 September 2024 © BELGA PHOTO JONAS ROOSENS / © BELGA VIDEO DELPHINE HOTUA
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