Spain Opel Workers Reject Revised Magna Plan; Strike Vote Tuesday
October 19 2009 - 9:41AM
Dow Jones News
Labor unions at General Motors Co.'s Spanish plant will call for
strike action Tuesday after rejecting a revised offer by Magna
International Inc. (MGA) on the future of its Opel manufacturing
plant, a Spanish union official said Monday.
Ana Sanchez said unions had rejected Magna's plan - which
features smaller production cuts of Opel's Meriva and Corsa models
than Magna initially offered - in part because the offer didn't
include details on potential job cuts.
Unions have called a plenary meeting Tuesday to vote on the
potential strike, she said.
Magna had initially told Spanish unions to expect around 1,700
job cuts at Opel's Zaragoza plant in northeast Spain, out of a
total of 7,500 workers, with plans to move part of the production
to Germany. That number was later revised down to 1,350
workers.
Magna has reached provisional agreements with unions in Germany,
the U.K., Poland, Austria and Belgium.
General Motors Co. is expected to complete the sale of a
majority stake in its Opel and Vauxhall brands to Austrian/Canadian
car-parts maker Magna and Russian bank OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS) in
the coming days.
The sale faces potential regulatory hurdles. The European
Union's competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, said last week
there were "significant indications" that Germany had violated E.U.
state aid and market rules by making EUR4.5 billion in state aid
for Opel contingent on Magna winning the bid.
-By Christopher Bjork, Dow Jones Newswires, 34 913958123,
christopher.bjork@dowjones.com