"We're here because we're angry," says Sascha Dudzik, a representative of the powerful German trade union IG Metall, as hundreds of Volkswagen employees demonstrate outside the auto giant's plant in Hanover. "Volkswagen has escalated the situation and has not yet been willing to seek a compromise," adds Dudzik. Thousands of workers are on strike across Germany on Monday in an escalating industrial dispute, with unions warning that VW is intent on making mass layoffs and closing factories. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES