Audi Brussels to end lock-out of blue collar workers (update)

Early in the morning on Friday, ‘white smoke’ came out of the negotiations between unions and management, which decided the factory would restart next Tuesday—first in the body and paint shop, later in the whole factory. From Tuesday on, the finished Audi Q8 e-trons will start delivering again to the dealerships, and the workers will be paid for the ‘lost week’.

The social conflict at the Audi plant in Vorst (Brussels), Belgium, further escalated on Monday and Tuesday as the management decided to ‘lock out’ its blue-collar workers from the factory and no longer pay their wages as long as 300 ‘confiscated’ keys of ready-to-deliver Q8 e-trons are in the hands of the unions.

Handing back the keys

Eventually, on Tuesday afternoon, the unions decided to restitute the 300 keys to the management. Peter D’hoore, the spokesperson for the Audi Brussels management, said, “The incident is considered closed.” No further legal actions—although the management first threatened with them—were taken against the workers.

A first deliberation on Wednesday failed, and the gates remained closed the whole week. A government mediator brought management and unions back to the negotiating table, eventually leading to an agreement to restart the factory on Tuesday next week.

By closing all factory gates for its blue-collar workers, Audi prevented even employees willing to work from entering, which caused them anxiety and anger. They were also deprived of their income, but they will be paid as a result of the deliberation. It didn’t apply to the ‘white-collar workers,’ who seemed more resigned from the whole matter.

Only one model

The total workforce in the Audi plant in Brussels represents some 2,757 full-time equivalents (FTE). Two thousand ninety-three are factory workers, 626 are employees, and 12 represent the direction. Today, this factory exclusively builds the Audi Q8 e-tron and the Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron, but no other models are in the future pipeline.

The demand for the Q8 e-tron, Audi’s first and oldest fully electric model, has collapsed. Although the plant still assembled 53,555 of these electric luxury SUVs in 2023 (7% more than in 2022), the demand has dwindled this year, particularly with the venue of the new Q6 e-tron, a slightly smaller but much more modern and somewhat cheaper electric SUV produced near Audi’s headquarters in Germany.

Lock-out is unseen in Belgium

For Belgium, a lock-out is a relatively unseen measure in social conflicts, primarily negotiated more peacefully even in similar dramatic situations like a factory closing. However, legally, it is one of the weapons an employer has to counteract strikes instigated by the unions.

Management said production wouldn’t be possible as long as finished products couldn’t be delivered, referring to the two hundred car keys the unions had ‘hidden’ and were holding as ransom. The unions said they were willing to negotiate returning part or all of the keys, eventually with the help of a mediator. Still, until Thursday night, the conflict remained utterly stuck.

Technically, Audi didn’t need the 300 ‘stolen’ keys, as they could quickly ‘re-program’ new ones to get the Q8 e-trans going. That used to be different when the Renault factory in Vilvoorde, north of Brussels, closed in 1997. Workers then confiscated more than 1,000 keys that weren’t that easily replaceable and used them as a pressure tool, which, in the end, couldn’t prevent the unavoidable.

Complete closure or not?

In the case of Audi Brussels, it is still unclear whether the factory will face a complete closure. Audi, so far, has not communicated the final intentions, which drives employees crazy. They want to know what the odds are to keep their jobs or not. But in Ingolstadt, general management remains deaf-mute, upon today.

Gerd Walker, Member of Audi AG’s Board of Management for Production and Logistics and responsible for all Audi production factories, told the German specialized magazine Automobilwoche in an interview that there are “possible solutions for the site and all employees.” Still, he keeps his cards close to his chest, which fuels the uncertainty in Brussels.

Take-over by Chinese carmaker?

There are speculations that the factory could be used to produce parts for other Volkswagen Group factories in the future. However, Audi has invested a lot of money in rebuilding the factory in Brussels, especially for electric cars, making it a possibly interesting take-over for a Chinese carmaker looking to produce locally to avoid European import taxes.

But it remains to be seen whether Volkswagen, which already suffers under fierce Chinese competition, would be willing to let this modern factory to the competition.

Pros and cons

Still, the Belgian factory has pros and cons for a possible take-over. The Audi factory is situated in a relatively small enclave southwest of Brussels, where expansion is almost impossible. It’s a small site and inaccessible by road, but the railroad is nearby.

The plant’s location in Belgium means labor costs are high, and there have been some scrimmages between management and unions in the past, giving the plant an image of a ‘difficult’ factory. The current lockdown and images of burning tires in front of the plant didn’t do well either.

On the positive side, the factory workers are renowned for their professional skills and productivity. As the Audi pilot factory for EV manufacturing, they have acquired a lot of experience in the matter, and the factory (and its workers) have always shown great flexibility in starting new manufacturing processes.