A day after the Surprise move by General Motors to keep Opel, unions at Opel organized a strike across all four German based factories of the company. The strike started at 11:00 local time at Ruesselsheim, a plant with 8,000 workers. http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=9002901http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293333,opel-workers-to-strike-over-general-motors-u-turn.html The strike is a direct reaction to announcement by GM late Tuesday, November 3, 2009, backing out of the deal with Magna International Inc to sell 55% of their shares in both Opel and Vauxhall. Opel workers fear GM will now revert to a previous restructuring plan, costing 10,000 jobs. http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSWEN599920091103http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091104-704977.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8343934.stm
- As the Magna-deal was strongly supported by the German government, Germany is expected to re-claim an earlier financial injection of €1.5 billion. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125728725957326159.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories
- General Motors has threatened to bankrupt the EU divisions (Opel and Vauxhall) if its restructuring plans are not accepted http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i0YnWm-6GyvaTyy9KmJrD75JH6OQD9BP5IAO0
History
- On May 30, 2009 General Motors announced it would reform its European branch into a New GM Europe, which would comprise of Opel and Vauxhall.http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/autosblog/index.php?blogid=788&source=nletter-business
- The GM Europe deal, supported by the German government, meant GM would keep a stake of 35%, Opel staff would get a 10% stake,[6] and the remaining 55% sold to a new partner, either FIAT or a consortium including Magna International.http://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/opelmagnatreuhand100.htmlhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8074924.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8075157.stm
- Two days later, on June 1, 2009, GM filed for bankruptcy. New GM Europe was not directly affected by this.http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/after-93-years-gm-shares-go-out-on-a-low-note/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/business/01auto.html?_r=1
- The deal with the Magna Group was agreed on September 10, 2009http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8247971.stm
- On November 3, 2009, the GM board decided to back out of the deal.http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=8861499
The GM decision leaves Opel's future in uncertainty
German reactions on the sudden GM move range from disbelief to fury. Workers are ons strike, German government might reclaim financial aid.
