Several Audi employees claim that they and their colleagues were beaten by the police when law enforcement stormed a car factory in Belgium.
On Wednesday this week, the police swooped down on a number of employees who allegedly prevented a fashion among Audi's Belgian top management.
The situation at the factory is tense following the news that the production of the electric car Q8 e-tron will stop and the factory will close next year. Around 3,000 employees stand to lose their jobs. During negotiations between union representatives and company management on Wednesday, the situation escalated.
About 150 workers stormed the model room in protest. The protesters prevented people from leaving the courage and fireworks were set off. A trade union representative suffered minor injuries.
The police arrived with batons, helmets and shields. Several factory workers claim that they protested peacefully, but that the police still used violence.
– They stormed in like cowboys and beat us with sticks," said Giuseppe Mezzatesta, who works at the Audi factory, to Euronews .
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– Is it really Belgium? Attacking workers who just want to defend their rights,” another employee wondered.
The General Confederation of Belgian Workers (FGTB) has criticized the actions of the police.
– This is not how you conduct peaceful conversations. The workers only demand a fair social plan.
– We are talking about 3,000 employees here and a further 1,000 elsewhere. All they are asking for is fair compensation for the work they have done," Secretary Grégory Dascotte told Euronews.
The closure of Audi's factory in Brussels is planned for the end of February. The reasons are allegedly reduced demand, high logistics costs and the location of the factory in the city centre, which makes it difficult to adapt the design to production.
Audi management is far from the latest to face massive cutbacks at the moment. The sister brand Volkswagen has already announced layoffs of several thousand employees and factory closures. Read more about it here .
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