10,000 Volkswagen Employees Strike

Some 10,000 employees at Volkswagen's assembly plant in Pubebla, Mexico went on strike Aug. 18, demanding higher pay. At 1600 GMT, workers slammed the brakes on output at the central Mexico plant, where 1,400 autos are produced each day for sale in Europe and the U.S., after union leaders rejected a company offer for a 4% pay raise and a 0.5% increase in benefits.

"The union does not consider itself responsible for the strike breaking out. It is simply exercising its legal right in the face of an offer that does not meet workers' needs," said union leader Jose Luis Rodriguez,

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006