Posted on 10/15/2004 4:07:26 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
Germany may bear brunt of GM plan
Workers churning out cars at Opel's plant in northwestern Germany have been troubled lately. “You really don't like to go in there,“ says Hans Ahsel, one of the workers in Bochum.
That is understandable. For the past week, the numbers turning up in newspapers about the Opel's future have resembled some sort of grim journalistic auction. At one point, these reports said 10,000 jobs at GM Europe would be slashed by the loss-plagued automaker. Then, they narrowed the focus and said 6,000 to 7,000 of those could come out of Opel's four plants in Germany.
On Thursday, the head of GM Europe came to Opel's ultramodern plant in Rüsselsheim to make a much-awaited announcement that would stop the bidding: The company will cut up to 12,000 jobs at its European plants. And 90 percent of the positions will be eliminated by next year, the company said.
Chairman Fritz Henderson, however, did not provide the answer to the question weighing on the minds of Opel's 33,000 workers in Germany: How many jobs will be lost here?
That job was taken over by a leading worker representative, and he had depressing numbers. Nearly 85 percent of the 12,000 jobs would come from Germany, said Rainer Einenkel, a leader on the workers council in Bochum.
Even though Henderson did not want to discuss the numbers, he had a ready explanation for the reasons driving the decision. “It is quite apparent that our business needs to be improved significantly,“ Henderson told journalists. “We are not profitable. We haven't been for six months. We haven't been for the last four years.“
To try to turn the situation around, the executive is launching a campaign to cut EUR500 million ($620 million) at Opel in Germany, Vauxhall in the United Kingdom and Saab in Sweden over the next two years. The next step will be negotiations with the workers' representatives. Henderson promised cooperation. “We will work constructively with the works councils to find a way to deal with the tasks at hand,“ he said. But the unions promised confrontation. “Old Europe is not Texas,“ said Berthold Huber of Germany's large IG-Metall union.
As part of their fight, GM's central works council declared next Tuesday as European action day. The goal of the protest will be to put pressure on the company's management in the negotiations. In those talks, the workers' representatives will pursue five goals, said Klaus Franz, a leader in Rüsselsheim. Those include no plant shutdowns and no layoffs. In Germany, Opel's four plants produce various cars and parts for the company.
Rüsselsheim: This plant, located just southwest of Frankfurt, produces the Vectra and Signum. The company invested EUR750 million in a plant renovation in 2002. But the plant has too much capacity, and workers have a 30-hour workweek.
J Bochum: This plant produces the Astra and the Zafira mini-van as well as axles and transmissions. But the plant is considered to be outdated, and some of its Zafira operations are slated to be transferred to Gliwice, Poland.
J Eisenach: This plant in eastern Germany produces the Corsa compact. It opened in 1992 and works much more efficiently than Rüsselsheim and Bochum. But low demand has forced it to shorten workers' hours.
J Kaiserslautern: This plant produces chassis, bodies and interior equipment. It plays an important role in GM's global production alliance.
Opel's losses have been building for years. In 2001, it had a record operating loss of EUR647 million. The figure was cut by 66 percent the following year. But it shot back up last year to EUR384 million. The losses are being fueled in part by an overall auto sales slump and consumers' dislike of Opel's brands.
The entire auto industry has watched sales fall between 1999 and 2003. The number of newly registered cars in Western Europe fell nearly 12 percent during the period. Opel, though, has suffered a 20 percent drop since the boom year of 1999.
More on GM v. Germany
Thank God.
And with that, General Motors outsourced the jobs of Old Europe to Texas.
Well they do have a large plant here in Arlington.
Opel? It's a hair dryer, isn't it? Or maybe a meat grinder? Surely no one rides around in those things.
My grandfather used to have a couple of old Opel’s. For some reason I thought they were Buick Opel’s. This would have been in the late 60’s or early ‘70’s. They were little miniature things. Like the old Datsun B-210’s or something.
They were popular back in the 60's and early 70's. They had one model the Opel GT that looked like a baby Jag E Type.
Some day Europe will be forced to embrace capitalism and dispose of socialism.
The one that looked like a B-210 was an Opel Kadette Rally. Drove a friends a few times when I was in A school. Zippy little things, but that was before all the mileage/emmissions stuff ruined cars. You are right about Buick. I believe they were sold at Buick dealers.
my mom had a Opel GT. Cool car for a young newlywed gal.
Not so cool when I came along...hehe.
They kept the car a while, but eventually got rid of it, not a family wagon.
I didn't realize there was still an opel. I remember the "z" logo on the car
Those rascal employees, why aren't they buildin' cars that people wanna drive???
I lived and breathed Opels in the 80s. GT, Mantas and Kadettes. Excellent cars.
Sounds like the plant in Bochum needs to be shut down, and production moved to the more modern plants. That should solve overcapacity problems.
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