Campaign Against VW Shifts Up A Gear

Last weekend (10^th-11^th September) saw co-ordination of direct action against Volkswagon across France and Germany and the UK.  On Saturday morning 60 active supporters were involved in communication events at VW dealerships in Glasgow, Newcastle, Bristol, London, Leeds and Birmingham. Volunteers, including Star Wars Stormtroopers, swarmed across the forecourt covering display models of VW cars with black sheets before speaking to members of staff and the public about VW’s environmental record.

Bristol’s action was briefly reported on HTV news.  Click here to view.  The action was jointly carried out by members of the East Bristol, and Oxford and Wilts branches

The Greenpeace campaign aims to persuade Volkswagon to stop opposing European laws that would require cars to be more efficient and reduce carbon emissions and to urge them to install their 'green' technology called ‘BlueMotion’ to their full range of cars as standard.  Since its launch the campaign has gathered support from some 373,000 emails and an internet viral spoof on a VW advert has been viewed thousands of times.  Last week activists scaled VW’s headquarters in Germany while in the UK a giant message was projected onto Battersea power station where Volkswagen was participating in a car show.

Saturday’s action was followed up on Sunday night and Monday morning with the flyposting of campaign leaflets and the delivery of letters to the managers at VW dealerships in 39 towns around the country including Bath, Bristol and Weston-Super-Mare.  This part of the campaign was undertaken by members of the Bristol group.

Greenpeace supporters were also emailed over the weekend to encourage them to go to their local VW dealership to quiz staff and managers on the company's green credentials.

All in all, a very busy weekend which VW’s Chairman, Martin Winterkorn, and his staff could not have ignored.  Let’s hope the company can see sense and respond positively to our campaign.  A big well done to all those volunteers who were involved in the direct action in the Bristol area.