Today’s the day GM, Magna, Sperbank, the Unions, the Opel Trust, and a whole host of others are supposed to finally, at long last, definitely sign the contracts that seal Opel’s new fate and future under the Magna/Sperbank regime. At the time of this typing, it looks like the signatures will remain blank. Who’s holding up the flow of ink?
The unions. According to Das Autohaus, there are “a number of open items” between the Opel workers’ council and Magna, “which cannot be solved immediately.” The workers are scheduled to own 10 percent of “New Opel.” Magna and Sperbank will hold 27.5 percent each. GM retains 35 percent. The price of the shares for the workers: No holiday pay, no Christmas bonus until 2014, to the tune of €256m a year. Being shareholders, the unions want to have a say when factories are being closed or work is being shifted in their company. Financial Times reported, the Unions want an additional seat on the Supervisory Board. According to German rules, the unions already have half of the seats, an additional seat would let them rule at will. Opel Union boss Franz said, this report is not true. Whatever.
The workers in Spain have not agreed yet to contribute their bonuses. They want to think about it until next Monday, maybe. The Opel plant in Antwerp, Belgium will be most likely shuttered – unless Belgium pays to play. The Spanish government will contribute to the €4.5b kitty, which keeps the lights on at Opel Saragossa. There is a deal in the UK which keeps Luton and Ellesmere Port open.
Even if the papers will be signed, eventually, maybe, possibly, the deal is not closed at all. The European Commission in Brussels needs to approve the €4.5b in government money. Stay tuned.
Just go bust already! God I am getting tired of hearing about this miserable turd of deal. If the unions are involved as owneres, the bastard son of Opel will also fail for sure.
Have they not seen what they are up against ???
Why do they think they are EVER going to be able to compete whilst there are such huge wage imbalances between the East and West ??
Until the Unions agree $500 a month wages (or relocate manufacturing to where there is), Opel will fail.
Sad but I fear true. Now get over it and start making something better!
I read about the deal in the UK and it was pretty remarkable.
From closing Luton and laying off 1,200 workers, the unions got them down to laying 600 workers (all voluntary redundancies) and keeping Ellesmere Port and Luton open. Good news.
Also, it’s spelt “Zaragoza”.
In Germany’s lavish welfare state would it be so awful for an Opel worker who gets laid off?
And aren’t the long term prospects for Opel pretty dim? In view of the fact the union(s) will (or do) have effective veto power over important decisions, why not let them have all the stock? Then they can try their hand at competing in the global economy.
This does not bode well. When political problems are solved over business problems, companies become dependent on the state or fail. Or more often, companies become dependent on the state and then fail. Opel will not be good for Magna. Mark my words.
I believe it is Sberbank, not Sperbank
It’s spelled “Opel Saragossa” in German :)
Original plan to layoff 1,400 British workers has been reduced by 600. So that leaves just 800 voluntary redundancies to be had. The alt. spelling of the bank name comes from the differences between Cyrillic (Russian) character set, and the Latin (English) character set. Neither are wrong. Unlike the Opel deal. Or thinking that it was the kind of bank that had something to do with fertility treatment :-o