On June 20th, 2017, a strike began at the Volkswagen factory near Bratislava, Slovakia. This is the largest and most modern car factory in a country whose annual production of cars per capita is the highest in the world. There had never been a strike at Volkswagen Bratislava before.

There will have to be a proper write-up later on, for now, just a few points:

the strike started on June 20 at 6am

production has been more or less completely paralyzed all day and also during the night

due to the stoppage, the factory has only managed to produce a few dozens of cars of questionable quality

apparently there are about 8000 strikers from a workforce of around 12000; it is hard to tell exactly as there are three shifts; more precise number should be available in the next few days (if the strike continues)

in some key departments, the turnout is close to 90%

the central demand is an increase in wages for all categories of core workers (originally: 16% for all categories; later on, as an attempt at a compromise: immediate promotion of all workers by one category – on paper, this is about the same, but there are some issues with the latter demand)

agency workers are not involved (and can't be, legally), but they either have very little work to do or are unable to work at all

the highest-category Slovak pay rates for workers are lower than the lowest-category German pay rates for similar work; this in a factory that produces high-end models; this is a major source of anger

the workers are assembled outside the factory on a parking lot and rotate based on regular shifts (during the day, there were about 3000 workers present)

the mood so far is enthusiastic

no clashes, no significant police presence

no leftist involvement or agitation, but some establishment politicians have already tried to use the strike by declaring themselves in support of it

the strike is union-led (by an independent union that was separated from a major federation affiliated with the German IG Metall) and fully compliant with Slovak collective bargaining laws

VW is the third most important employer in the country (after railways and a US Steel-owned factory)

the strike could be an important signal for workers in other automotive companies in the region (Hyundai-KIA, Groupe PSA), as well as in other industries

Here's some background to the strike.

News reports on the first day: 1, 2, 3

Some videos of the strike:

