Audi management’s announcement that its plant in Brussels, Belgium, will be gradually closed has caused widespread unrest among the plant’s approximately 3,000 employees and those working in related supplier factories. Audi’s works council met for the second time on Thursday to discuss the response.

A week ago, the company management informed the works councils that the production of the electric SUV Audi Q8 e-tron will be stopped completely earlier than planned, namely at the end of next year. Due to the falling demand, production will be scaled back considerably this year. This will lead to a drastic reduction in the workforce. “By October, 1,400 to even 1,500 employees could lose their jobs,” according to Franky De Schrijver of the General Social Democratic Trade Union (ABVV) and Ronny Liedts of the Christian Trade Union (ACV).

Earlier this month, union representatives on the Audi Brussels Supervisory Board voted against the management’s plans, and Supervisory Board Chairman Manfred Döss was only able to secure a majority for his position on the Supervisory Board (which has 50-50 management/union representation) by exercising his tie-breaking rights. This is something that rarely occurs on German supervisory boards, as the IG Metall union acts as a co-manager on the company’s economic committees, advising the company’s management and helping to draw up closure programs long before they are announced.

The unions in Belgium are no different from IG Metall, but they are under heavy pressure from employees. Audi employees in Brussels are very combative. Many employees have a migration background and know that they have little chance of finding a comparable job. According to a study by the German trade union Hans Böckler Foundation, Belgium is the country in Europe with the most strike days per employee.

To avoid spontaneous actions, the announcement of the closure was made during a period of production stoppage. The production lines will remain idle until the Belgian bank holiday on 21 July, when staff will be required to take leave. The planned company holidays will begin immediately afterwards. Nevertheless, 50 employees took part in a vigil in front of the closed factory gates as soon as the planned closure was announced.

The works council announced that the “first phase of the so-called Renault law” would now start. This requires close cooperation between management, works council, unions and government with the aim of finding a “socially acceptable solution”. The name “Renault law” comes from the fact that when the Renault factory in Vilvoorde (Flemish Brabant) was closed in 1997, a law was introduced to protect the workforce from sudden management decisions and being confronted with a fait accompli.

The law stipulates that a company established in Belgium that plans to cut jobs due to restructuring or closure of factories must inform the works council and the workforce before announcing the respective steps. Together with the unions, a so-called “works council” is formed, which also maintains contact with government representatives and strives for a balance of interests.

However, as with the German codetermination and social partnership laws, this cooperation between management, trade unions and government does not take place in the interests of the employees, but rather aims to use the government to shape company decisions in such a way that dismissals can be implemented despite employee resistance.

This is evident from a report on the first round of government negotiations that took place last Tuesday. Flanders info The magazine reports: “The unions of the Audi factory in Vorst (Brussels) met the outgoing Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) and Minister of Economy Pierre-Yves Dermagne (PS) on Tuesday at the Prime Minister’s office.”