Opel workers pushed out onto the street

— 5.11.09 15:09 —

TEXT: Victor Marakhovsky

PHOTO: Reuters

Trade union protests began in Germany, caused by GM's decision not to sell Opel and lay off 10.5 thousand workers. There was a temporary stoppage of work at German Opel factories, and people took to the streets. In the meantime, the cancellation of the deal may be discussed at a meeting between the German and US Foreign Ministries.

On Thursday, at 11.00 local time, protests began at all German Opel enterprises, Gazeta.Ru was told at the headquarters of Germany's largest industrial union, IG Metall, which unites more than 2.3 million workers. During the protests, work at the factories was stopped. The leadership of the trade union and workers of other companies in the industry are also participating in the demonstrations, the press service said. The total number of participants in the demonstrations at IG Metall is estimated in the thousands.

Worker protests sparked GM Vice President John Smith's plans to cut costs at Opel's European plants by 30%.

This will, in turn, mean a reduction in the company's workforce by 10.5 thousand jobs. At the same time, Smith said that the Opel restructuring plan developed by the corporation is “ very similar” to Magna’s plan, and Europe may well accept it.

German Opel workers, however, reacted extremely harshly. Hours before GM officially announced its decision not to sell the subsidiary to the Canadian-Russian consortium of Magna and Sberbank, Opel union leaders signed their consent to the sale. They also expressed their willingness to give up part of their salaries ( about a quarter of a billion euros) to help the future of the company.

GM's decision, according to a representative of IG Metall, crossed out this agreement, and the American corporation should not hope that the workers will agree to their terms. As the head of the Opel trade union, Klaus Franz, said at the rally, the trust of employees in General Motors “ is zero, and now negotiations with them must also be conducted from scratch.”

Currently, about 46 thousand people are employed at Opel factories, about 25 thousand of them are in Germany. The company also has factories in the UK, Poland, Belgium and Spain. Since the cuts will primarily affect German workers, there is no international labor solidarity regarding GM's decisions. While German workers are protesting, British and Polish Opel unions have welcomed GM's new plans.

The head of the British Opel union, Tony Woodley, called GM's decision " fantastic" and " the best for Opel and for England."

Opel has about 5,500 workers in the UK, and the owners' new plans do not include layoffs. In turn, 2,600 employees of the Belgian division of Opel do not yet know whether to protest or not - since, according to Flemish Prime Minister Chris Pieters, there is no clarity regarding their fate yet. Peters on Thursday called on the US to quickly clarify the issue.

But German factories are expecting more than just reductions: according to GM's restructuring plans, it is planned to close two factories - in the cities of Bochum and Eisenach.

The situation looks especially tense in North Rhine-Westphalia, where in the city of Bochum about 3 thousand workers at the Opel plant may lose their jobs. Representatives of the state government said that the leadership of North Rhine-Westphalia also intends to take part in the demonstration, which is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. According to Prime Minister Jürgen Rutgers, if GM management takes an “ irresponsible and inhumane step”, the company will not receive any help from the government in reorganizing. “ No one can expect us to pay for the closure of the Bochum plant,” Deutsche Welle quotes Rütgers as saying.

Meanwhile, on November 5 in Washington, during the first official visit to the United States of the new German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, one of the topics of discussion will presumably be the fate of Opel.