Workers at car manufacturer VDL Nedcar have begun a two-day strike in a dispute over a deal for staff who face losing their jobs when the company’s contract with BMW runs out next year.

Unions have called on the company to invest €240 mln in measures for workers who are laid off when the factory in Born, Limburg, stops making Minis for the German car firm next March.

The dispute triggered two days of wildcat stoppages last year, ahead of the officially sanctioned strikes on Monday and Tuesday this week, called by the FNV, CNV and De Unie. The unions had set a deadline of Saturday for the company to accept its demands.

The CNV said it did not condone the wildcat action last week, but it ‘understood the anger’ and had warned VDL about deep discontent on the shop floor.

The company has called the unions’ demands ‘exorbitant’, but the unions pointed out the VDL Groep paid out €300 mln in dividends on the basis of Nedcar’s profits in 2022.