Volkswagen CEO faces angry workers in push for radical cuts

By Rachel More

BERLIN, Aug 25 (Reuters) - More than 10,000 Volkswagen workers gathered at the carmaker's headquarters on Tuesday, some booing CEO Oliver Blume as he urged staff to "pull together" behind a restructuring that could cut up to 50,000 jobs, sources at the meeting said.

Speaking at Volkswagen's home base for the first time since details emerged of potential job losses and factory closures, Blume told employees that "everyone needs to pull together", while labour leaders warned that trust in management had been damaged.

Blume's plans, which would roughly double current restructuring programmes, have so far failed to get past the group's supervisory board, where the labour side and the state of Lower Saxony have a strong influence.

Workers gathered in Wolfsburg holding banners and signs, with some forced to watch proceedings on a livestream set up outside the packed venue, two sources in attendance said.

The event was not open to the press.

VW WORKERS BOO BLUME

"Our plan for the future is the largest transformation programme in our company's history. To make this happen, everyone needs to pull together now," he said in Wolfsburg's Hall 11, the first stop on his planned tour of Volkswagen plants this week.

One source said his speech was met with boos from the crowd. Banners bore slogans such as "Our jobs are not your balance sheet adjustments" and "Respect is not up for negotiation", according to another source.

Speaking on behalf of the workforce, Volkswagen labour leader Daniela Cavallo said German factories were "an integral part" of the group, reiterating her opposition to closures.

"Our trust in this company's executive board, and especially in its CEO Oliver Blume, has been damaged. Not yet beyond repair, but damaged nonetheless," she said, according to excerpts of her speech shared by the works council.

Squeezed by aggressive Chinese competition rushing to Europe, falling profits in China and billions in U.S. tariff costs, Volkswagen is also struggling with declining profits and costly overcapacity in Europe.

In his speech to workers, excerpts of which were shared by the company, Blume stressed that the 50,000 job cuts were based on a theoretical benchmark to bring Volkswagen's costs into line with competitors. He also said that no decision had been taken on factory closures, which he called the "last and most expensive resort".

He has previously said that the defence sector or Volkswagen's models for the Chinese market, currently not available in Europe, may offer preferable solutions to address overcapacity at German plants.

Management has yet to announce any breakthrough on these proposals, with automotive production set to end in its plant in Osnabrueck as early as next year. Four other plants - Emden, Zwickau, Neckarsulm and Hanover - are lacking future prospects from 2030.

(Reporting by Rachel More, editing by Kirsti Knolle, Linda Pasquini and Louise Heavens)