Faced with a new lawsuit over the use of slave labor during World War II, Volkswagen A.G. is to announce plans on Friday to set up a fund of about $12 million to compensate surviving workers. It will be overseen by Shimon Peres, the former Prime Minister of Israel, according to people working with the company.

The move comes at a time when American lawyers have filed class-action suits over slave labor against Volkswagen and many other German industrial companies. Most of the companies acknowledge that they used slave laborers during Hitler's Third Reich, but they say they were forced to do so by the Government.

It is considered unlikely that Volkswagen's decision will persuade people to drop their class-action claims. A suit filed last month proposed to recapture a share of each company's accumulated profits that can be attributed to slave labor. If the suit against the companies is successful, it would mean compensation in the billions of dollars.

Volkswagen, along with most other German companies, continues to deny any legal responsibility for its actions during the Hitler years.