Tens of thousands of Volkswagen workers walked out on Monday in the second round of strikes in an escalating conflict between unions and management over the German carmaker's drastic savings plans.

Volkswagen car and component plants across Germany started two-hour strikes on Monday, bringing assembly lines to a halt as labour and management clash over the future of Europe's biggest carmaker.

Rolling strikes hit nine of auto giant Volkswagen's plants across Germany for the second time this month, as the Volkswagen workforce protests painful proposed cuts at Europe's largest carmaker. Monday's strikes ratchet up the pressure on management on the same day that the fourth round of collective bargaining negotiations over pay cuts and threatened factory closures got under way on Monday in Wolfsburg,

Tens of thousands of Volkswagen workers are taking part in strikes at plants across Germany Monday, marking the largest walkouts at the carmaker’s domestic operations since 2018.

The labor union has promised "the toughest wage dispute Volkswagen has ever seen." VW has planned to close three plants amidst plunging profits.

Workers at Volkswagen plants across Germany walked off the job in waves on Monday for temporary work stoppages, marking the start of nationwide strikes against the German auto giant. About 66,000 VW employees - more than half of VW's factory workforce in Germany - joined the strikes,

At Volkswagen's main plant in Wolfsburg, which employs 70,000 people, a two-hour strike means several hundred cars, including the iconic Golf, cannot be built, union sources said. An agreement not to stage walkouts ended on Saturday, enabling industrial action across VW AG's German plants.

Volkswagen workers in Germany are now on strike, making this the first large-scale walkout at the company’s domestic operations since 2018.

By Victoria Waldersee and Christina Amann WOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Volkswagen workers ramped up pressure on its management with further strikes at the carmaker's German sites on Monday, as a fourth round of talks was set to begin in an increasingly bitter standoff over wage cuts and plant closures.