More than 5,000 demonstrators are protesting in Brussels against the German car giant Audi's threat to stop production at its electric car factory in the city. Even large parts of public transportation are at a standstill.
After years of record profits, they want us to pay for the crisis, but we will never accept that, says Sor Hillal, general secretary of the metalworkers' union FGTB to the newspaper Le Soir.
Around 3,000 employees are directly affected by the threat of closure, which is motivated by a lack of demand for the electric cars that Audi converted the factory to produce in 2018. The European car manufacturers' interest organization Acea also blames what they consider to be overly strict emission regulations in the EU. The union also criticizes the EU for not supporting industry enough.
We are stuck between the USA and their measures to attract jobs and China's low-cost production. The EU has chosen to let the market regulate itself and it doesn't work, claims Grégory Dascotte from FGTB.
