According to foreign media reports, the German Metal Industry Trade Union threatened that if the VW executives continue to refuse to increase salaries for their employees, they will continue their strike activities and the production of cars will be affected.

The Metal Industry Union was extremely angry about the salary increase provided by the management of the Volkswagen Group on Tuesday, that is, the salary increase will not exceed 2.2% in the next 12 months. The union had asked for a 6% salary increase for the 120,000 employees at the western German factory, and the public’s proposal was only one-third of the union’s request.

After three rounds of non-progressive negotiations, more than 20,000 workers at the Volkswagen plant had a two-hour strike, which was the first warning strike of the Volkswagen Factory since 2004. The union also added that thousands of workers from other five German factories in the future will also join the protests.

Bernd Osterloh, chairman of the Volkswagen union, said at a rally in the Wolfsburg factory: “If necessary, we will lead the staff of Germany’s Volkswagen Group in a strike. We will not hesitate to launch a demonstration strike. This will also affect some parts factories."

In addition to demanding a 6% salary increase, the Metal Industry Union also asked the public to optimize the company's pension plan and hire more new employees to respond to the automotive industry's shift to new energy and autonomous driving technology.

Volkswagen currently faces fines of up to several billion euros, and the shift to new energy and autonomous driving has also caused its investment costs to increase. The group rejected the salary increase request and hopes that both parties can reach a salary agreement in a more balanced way.

A spokesman for the Volkswagen Press said that he did not want Thursday's strike activity to affect production but did not disclose further details.

The public’s internal salary dispute also coincided with the metal industry union’s request for a 8% increase in the German metal and engineering industry. In addition, the one-day strike activity on Thursday also affected the production of Daimler and Porsche.