Munich’s Bayerische Motorenwerke, better known as BMW, are set to celebrate 100 years since the founding of the company tomorrow Monday, March 7, 2016. The main celebrations are going to take place at two of Munich’s landmark venues, the Allianz Arena stadium and at the Olympiahalle.

Some 33,000 workers will celebrate the birthday of the company at the stadium, while some 20,000 middle and upper management employees are set to celebrate at the Olympiahalle with many VIP’s, but without German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will be in Brussels tomorrow. Speeches from the Olympiahalle will be shown on big screens at the stadium. The Olympiahalle will be heated to a cosy temperature, while the workers will get to watch the event at the cold stadium. Catering for the two celebrations has also been criticised. Employees of the company at the Allianz Arena will get sausages and non-alcoholic (!) beer, while catering for their white collar colleagues will be in the hands of the Bavarian capitals best known fine food company – Käfer.

A union official told Bild newspaper: “This is absolutely outrageous, a separation into classes. It is disrespectful towards workers.” A BMW spokesperson said: “The involvement of the employees in our anniversary activities was very important to us, the response of the employees it is extremely positive.”