Daniela Cavallo, chairwoman of the central works council of German car maker Volkswagen (VW), addresses employees at the company’s headquarters plant in Wolfsburg, central Germany, on December 2, 2024, as thousands of Volkswagen workers go on strike all over Germany in an escalating industrial dispute at the crisis-hit German auto giant with thousands of jobs at stake. – VW has been hit hard by high manufacturing costs at home, a stuttering shift to electric vehicles and tough competition in key market China. It has announced a plan to cut billions of dollars in costs. (Photo by Julian Stratenschulte / POOL / AFP)