MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- More than 12,000 workers at a Volkwagen
plant that produces the Beetle went on strike Saturday to demand salary increases,
but union leaders said they still hoped for a resolution this weekend.

The walkout represented some 80 percent of the work force at the Volkswagen of
Mexico plant, which builds the new Beetle model for export around the world. It is
also the only plant still producing the old Beetles, which are sold only in Mexico.

Jose Luis Rodriguez Salazar, secretary-general of the Independent Union of
Volkswagen Workers, said both sides planned to meet Sunday morning in Mexico
City at the Labor Department to try to restart talks.

The union has asked for a 21 percent salary increase for workers, who earn an
average of $30 a day. Salazar said that figure was negotiable.

"Tomorrow we could see some important advances," Salazar told The Associated
Press in a telephone interview from the plant in central Puebla state. "We didn't want
a strike. We want a solution as soon as possible."

Talks between Volkswagen and the union broke down Thursday, and on Friday the
union voted to reject a 5.5 percent salary increase suggested by the Labor
Department.

The union says the company has not offered any wage increase. Volkswagen has
refused to provide details of the company's offer to workers. The company
announced a news conference for later Saturday.

In a news release issued late Friday night, Volkswagen said attempts to restart
negotiations failed "because the union already had decided to go on strike."

The strike is the second in two years at the factory, which employs 16,000 people.

After a five-day strike at the site last year, workers were ordered back to work by
the labor secretary. They were later granted a 13 percent direct wage increase, a 5
percent rise in productivity incentives, 2 percent in loans, and 1 percent in aid for
school supplies for workers' children.

The plant makes 1,540 cars a day, including Jettas, Golf convertibles and old-style
Beetles. The new Beetles are exported to the United States, Europe and Asia.

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.