Opel reaches deal with unions on future of German plants

Unions and management at German carmaker Opel, the loss-making arm of US auto giant General Motors, reached agreement Thursday on the future of the group's four German factories beyond 2016.

GM had warned last month that Opel's plant in Bochum, western Germany, could be closed at the end of next year if management and unions failed to agree a turnaround plan by the end of this month.

But the two sides reached a deal on Thursday whereby management would uphold its pledge to retain Bochum as a components and logistics site once auto production had been phased out there at the end of 2016.

"In order to safeguard its future beyond 2016, Bochum will be turned into a components and logistics site," the head of Opel's general works council Wolfgang Schaefer-Klug said in a statement.

There would also be no compulsory redundancies until the end of 2016.

http://www.france24.com/en/20130228-opel-reaches-deal-with-unions-future-german-plants-0