The management of General Motors’ European unit Opel and European unions have reached agreement over the company’s restructuring plan, aimed at getting the ailing company back into the black and at convincing the German government to free up state guarantees. The unions at Opel agreed to a series of cuts that would amount to Euro 265 million per year through 2014. The bulk of the money will come from salary freezes, reduced bonuses and holiday pay, and some layoffs that will eliminate just over 8,000 of Opel's 50,000-member workforce in Europe. It is suggested that about half of those cuts would come at the German factory in Rüsselsheim. For their part in the restructuring plan, Opel employees have been promised shares of profits and protection against further job cuts. “This European framework contract and the specific agreements in each country, including Germany, are important steps along the way to a new and successful company,” Opel chief executive Nick Reilly told a press conference. He spoke alongside Klaus Franz, head of GM Europe's works committee. A formal signing of the accord was expected in the coming days, Reilly said.
English: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5599186,00.html; http://www.thelocal.de/money/20100521-27351.html
For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI atwww.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2009.