Opel turn-around
May 22, 2010
German car manufacturer Opel has reached an agreement with its workforce on measures aimed at getting the ailing company back into the black.
The highly-anticipated restructuring plan of General Motors' European unit is designed to qualify the company for state guarantees from the German government.
Workers at Opel agreed to a series of cuts that would amount to 265 million euros ($333 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.
About half of those cuts would come at the German factory in Russelsheim, where most European Opel employees work.
For their part in the restructuring plan, Opel employees have been promised shares of profits and protection against further job cuts.
General Motors hopes the cuts will satisfy requirements put forth by the German government for state aid.
mz/dpa/AFP
Editor: Nigel Tandy