After the surprise announcement that it would retain control of its European division Opel, General Motors today said that 10,000 are planned to be cut at the unit. The US car company wishes to cut costs at its European unit by 30 percent. The company said that a restructuring plan was a better option at the moment than putting up the European division up for sale citing the improving health of the European business environment.
Opel currently employs more than 50, 000 people, more than 25,000 of whom are in Germany. German unions today announced their plans to go on strike and stand up against the decision to scrap the deal of selling the unit to Canadian car-parts maker Magna International.
Yesterday, Opel’s employee council had offered to contribute $265 million a year to cost cutting as German workers agreed to work without pay increases during 2011 and even let go of their Christmas and summer bonuses. Therefore, the news comes as an even bigger surprise for the workers.
The Germans have labeled Opel’s plans as ‘totally unacceptable’ and workers at all of Opel’s four plants in Germany are likely to stop work tomorrow and other plants in Europe are expected to follow suit.
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