BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen has informed employee representatives that it wants to close at least three plants in Germany, the head of the company's works council said Monday.
Employee council chief Daniela Cavallo said at a meeting with Volkswagen workers at the company's Wolfsburg headquarters that management also plans cuts at other sites, and pledged to resist the plans, German news agency dpa reported. She said that “all German VW plants are affected by these plans. None is safe."
The company didn't give details of its plans. But chief personnel officer Gunnar Kilian said in a statement that “the fact is that the situation is serious and the responsibility of the negotiating partners is enormous,” dpa reported.
Volkswagen said in early September that auto industry headwinds mean it can’t rule out plant closures in its home country, and must drop a job protection pledge in force since 1994 that would have barred layoffs through 2029. CEO Oliver Blume cited new competitors entering European markets, Germany’s deteriorating position as a manufacturing location and the need to “act decisively.”
“Without comprehensive measures to restore competitiveness, we will not be able to afford significant future investments,” Kilian said Monday. He added that management will stick to the principle of discussing Volkswagen's future with its internal negotiating partners first.
Pay negotiations between Volkswagen and the union are due to resume on Wednesday.
European automakers are facing increased competition from inexpensive Chinese electric cars. Volkswagen said last month that the company’s half-year results indicated it would not achieve its target of 10 billion euros ($10.8 billion) in cost savings by 2026.
Volkswagen has some 120,000 employees in Germany, where it has 10 plants — six of them in the northern state of Lower Saxony, including Wolfsburg.
The IG Metall industrial union sharply criticized VW's reported closure plans. “We expect that, instead of cutback fantasies, sustainable concepts for the future be sketched out by Volkswagen and its management at the negotiating table,” regional union leader Thorsten Gröger said.
A view of the Volkswagen plant in Zwickau, Germany, on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
Employees stand at an information event organized by the General Works Council of Volkswagen AG at the VW main plant in Wolfsburg, Oct. 28, 2024. (Julian Stratenschulte/DPA via AP, Pool)
The logo of Volkswagen is photographed at the Paris Auto Show, in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
NEW YORK (AP) — Actor Timothée Chalamet made a surprise appearance at his own look-alike contest in Lower Manhattan on Sunday, an event that drew hundreds of onlookers, a dispersal order from police and at least one arrest.
Flanked by bodyguards, Chalamet briefly posed for photos with his high-cheeked, curly haired doppelgängers, some of whom had dressed as the actor’s characters in “Wonka” and the “Dune” movies.
But just as the wannabe-Chalamets began strutting along a red carpet in Washington Square Park, police ordered the large group to disperse, slapping organizers with a $500 fine for an “unpermitted costume contest.”
At least one contestant was taken away in handcuffs, though police did not immediately say why. A spokesperson for the NYPD said charges were pending.
“It started off as a silly joke and now it’s turned pandemonium,” said Paige Nguyen, a producer for the YouTube personality Anthony Po, who staged the event.
The organizers had posted flyers for the contest — which promised a $50 prize to the winner — around New York in recent days, spurring social media speculation and thousands of RSVPs to an online invite.
After leaving the park, the group soon found a backup location in a nearby playground, where more than a dozen contestants competed for audience approval from a makeshift stage.
What makes a good Chalamet?
“It’s all in the nose,” said Lauren Klas, a 27-year-old graphic designer who clung to a fence post to get a better view of the stage. “All of his bone structure, really.”
After winnowing down the group down to four, the remaining contestants were asked about their French proficiency, their plans to make the world a better place and their romantic intentions with Kylie Jenner. Chalamet and Jenner are said to be a couple.
Eventually, a winner was chosen: Miles Mitchell, a 21-year-old Staten Island resident, who dressed in a purple Willy Wonka outfit and tossed candy to the crowd from a brief case.
As he stood next to a novelty-size check written out to “Best Tim," a group of admirers lined up for the chance to take a photo — or exchange social media profiles — with the winner.
“I’m excited and I’m also overwhelmed,” Mitchell said. “There were so many good look-alikes. It was really a toss-up.”
Miles Mitchell, 21, winner of the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest near Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
The trophy for the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest is paraded through the street as the contest organizers move the event to a new location near Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
The trophy for the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest is paraded through the street as the contest organizers move the event to a new location near Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Miles Mitchell, 21, winner of the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest near Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Miles Mitchell, 21, winner of the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest, holds his trophy near Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Contestants gather for the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest in Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
A giant cheque for the prize money is held aloft at the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest near Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
CORRECTS LAST NAME TO MITCHELL FROM MITCHEL - Miles Mitchell, 21, winner of the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest held near Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
CORRECTS LAST NAME TO MITCHELL FROM MITCHEL - Miles Mitchell, 21, winner of the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest held near Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
CORRECTS LAST NAME TO MITCHELL FROM MITCHEL - Miles Mitchell, 21, winner of the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest held near Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
CORRECTS LAST NAME TO MITCHELL FROM MITCHEL - Miles Mitchell, 21, winner of the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest held near Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Crowds look on at the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest near Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Finalists Miles Mitchell, left and Zander Dueve, center, shake hands at the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest near Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
Miles Mitchell, 21, winner of the Timothee Chalamet lookalike contest near Washington Square Park, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
