A new round of talks to reach agreement between management and workers at Volkswagen

Representatives of the German carmaker Volkswagen and workers are holding talks in the northern German city of Hanover on Monday in an attempt to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement before the end of the year.

The management of Europe’s largest carmaker is demanding a 10 percent cut in wages for its workers in Germany overall, and is threatening to close factories and cut thousands of jobs in Germany.

Company officials say high labor costs in Germany are among the reasons for its poor financial results, exacerbated by competition and the faltering transition to electric cars.

In contrast, the IG Metall union for metal and engineering workers in Germany, which represents most Volkswagen workers in Germany, rejects these demands and has vowed to fight against the wage cuts if management does not make concessions.

In an attempt to increase pressure on management, workers have already carried out two rounds of partial strikes, with more threatened.

The latest round of negotiations will be the fifth between the two sides and will take place in the city of Hanover instead of Volkswagen’s headquarters in the city of Wolfsburg.