dpa Opel renovation
01/20/2010
At the same time lean O pel boss Nick Reilly agreed to a share of the equity of the workforce and further demands of the employees despite previous commitments. Reilly's goal of submitting the reorganization plan by the end of the month is therefore becoming increasingly unrealistic.
Reorganization plan is inadequate
In a letter to On Wednesday (January 20th), the workforce rejected Opel General Works Council Chairman Klaus Franz as inadequate: 'The so-called' Viability Plan VI ', which was presented just a few days ago, offers no chance of a successful future for Opel /Vauxhall after extensive analyzes in Europe. ' Concrete measures to increase sales are not described in the concept.
The plan provides for around 8,300 of the 48,000 jobs in Europe to be cut this year, mainly in Germany and Belgium. The personnel planning for the following years, however, is as little available as the detailed breakdown of the downsizing figures, criticized Franz, who is also deputy chairman of the supervisory board of Opel. In the administration of the 'Indians' should be massively reduced, while at the same time management positions for other 'chiefs' would be created.
Franz emphasized that the concept still provides for plant closings. The works council and IG Metall reject this. They made the waiver a condition for a wage cut. 'We shouldn't reach out to ensure that employee contributions from one company are used to close down sites and destroy the jobs of others,' said IG Metall district manager and Opel supervisory board member Armin Schild on the internet portal 'focus.de'. p>
They will not finance severance payments and plant closures
Franz warned: 'The employees should use their money to finance plant closures and severance payments. We will not go along with that.' He accused the management of knowing exactly how much the employees should surrender despite the imprecise business plan: 'They still insist on 265 million euros per year in Europe.'
Which locations are affected, said Franz Not. However, it has long been known that the management would like to close the Antwerp site. As the 'Handelsblatt' reports, Reilly is following suitInformation from company circles on the closure of the plant. An official decision is still pending. Opel declined to comment on this.
However, concerns are growing in the Opel works council that the head of the General Motors subsidiary could present the workforce with a fait accompli, the paper said. The Flemings had offered GM state aid to avert the end of the 2,500 employees in Antwerp. According to the works council, the carmaker turned down the Belgian offer for more than 500 million euros.
The Antwerp site was also on the brink after the concept of the lost Canadian-Austrian Opel bidder Magna. GM had also announced its intention to close the plant in the restructuring plan presented in November 2009. Reilly had repeatedly emphasized that the manufacturer had to reduce its capacities in Europe by 20 percent.
According to Franz, the cuts planned by the management are based on the lowest volume figures of the crisis year 2010. They are so low that with increasing sales in the coming years, there will be too little production capacity in Europe. In addition, the massive cuts mean there is no money for additional product investments.
