Cake toss and topless protest: riots at VW shareholder meetings

Representatives of a group shouted slogans and held up banners during the speech by CEO Oliver Blume. A poster read: “End Uyghur forced labor at VW”. During the annual general meeting, a person tried to throw a cake at Supervisory Board member Wolfgang Porsche, who was celebrating his 80th birthday on Wednesday.

Speech continued after pie toss

The cousin of the company patriarch Ferdinand Piech, who died in 2019, is the head of the supervisory board of the family holding Porsche SE, which holds the majority in Volkswagen. The demonstrators were led by employees of a security service from the hall in Berlin’s City-Cube, where the shareholders’ meeting took place. Chairman of the supervisory board Hans Dieter Pötsch asked the protesters several times to refrain from disturbances. He was initially shocked when the cake was thrown at Porsche, but then continued his introductory speech at the beginning of the general meeting, outwardly unimpressed. CEO Oliver Blume, who faced the shareholders at the general meeting, did not respond to the demonstrators’ demands either.

“Readiness for constructive dialogue”

In a statement, the carmaker reacted angrily to the massive disruption to its annual general meeting. Peaceful protests are a democratic means of freedom of expression. The damage to someone else’s property and the interference with the rights of others as well as the possible risk to the health of those involved are in contradiction to this. At the same time, Volkswagen renewed its willingness to engage in constructive dialogue with its critics. Shareholder meetings of the car company have repeatedly been the target of protests in recent years. The disturbances were rarely as severe as this time.

Protests in front of the City Cube

There were also protests in front of the City Cube. The police prevented the attempt by representatives of the group “Scientist Rebellion” to stick themselves on the square in front of the venue in Berlin’s Westend. In a leaflet, the initiative accused the group of selling “too many cars”. The emissions of the climate poison CO2 by the transport sector have reached a threatening level. VW could make a positive contribution to the traffic turnaround by switching production to trains and rail infrastructure. Representatives of the “Last Generation” group, which is known for its numerous sticking actions on the streets, blocked traffic to the site of the shareholders’ meeting.

Uyghurs also demonstrated

Representatives of the Uyghur minority in China also protested there. The action, organized by the World Uyghur Congress, displayed banners accusing the Chinese government of human rights abuses. The umbrella organization of critical shareholders has taken up the issue and submitted a motion against the discharge of the VW board. Volkswagen operates a plant in the Chinese Uighur province of Xinjiang, which has been accused of crimes against humanity. The group has repeatedly stated that it is not involved in human rights violations.

Blume, who replaced Herbert Diess at the top of the group last September, explained his strategy for the next few years to the shareholders. Because of the protests, however, the statements took a back seat. Criticism from shareholder representatives focused, among other things, on the low valuation of Volkswagen on the stock exchange and Blume’s dual role as head of the listed sports car manufacturer Porsche AG.