Demonstrations at 18 sites set up as radical transformation plan put to board of Europe’s biggest carmaker

Volkswagen’s proposal to slash up to 100,000 jobs and close factories faces a major test on Thursday as formal proposals are put to the supervisory board at Europe’s biggest carmaker, with protests planned at all plants in Germany.

IG Metall, the influential staff union, has organised demonstrations involving shop stewards and union council members at 18 sites, including the company’s headquarters. It warned the chief executive, Oliver Blume, that he cannot “pass the buck for failures of recent years on to the workforce”.