Report: Bosch works council calls for auto industry task force

The works council at automotive supplier Bosch is calling for a round-table meeting of employers, trade unions and politicians given the escalating crisis in Germany's automotive industry, Frank Sell, chairman of the Bosch Mobility group works council, told Der Spiegel magazine on Sunday.

Sell said a task force was needed with representatives of employers from the automotive and supplier industries, employees, the trade union and politicians "that only breaks up once it has worked out solutions that secure the future of the industry in Germany."

There are growing conflicts in the automotive sector over working hours and cost-cutting programmes.

Last Friday, tens of thousands of Mercedes-Benz employees across Germany protested against the carmaker's planned tightening of its cost-cutting drive.

The protest at Mercedes-Benz was intended as the start of further nationwide actions.

A car convoy by employees in the automotive industry is planned for July 9 in the state capital of Baden-Wurttemberg. Further employee actions at Volkswagen are to follow, the IG Metall union said.