The directors of General Motors met for dinner last Monday in advance of an eagerly anticipated board meeting the following day. It was a chance for them to get to know one another. There wasn’t much time for chit-chat. New or not, the board had to make a historic decision — whether to cut GM’s ties with Europe, and its claim to be a global car company, by selling Opel and Vauxhall. Henderson made no firm recommendation. After all, the board had approved the deal in principle and was expected to give the green light. Except it didn’t. Immediately after the meeting, GM announced that it would keep Opel / Vauxhall, saying the business was now judged vital to product and technology development strategy. The decision provoked fury in Germany, where the Magna plan had been supported because it promised fewer job losses. Henderson had to call Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, with the news — she was in Washington to see President Barack Obama.
The workforce of Opel in Germany, some 25,000, took to the streets within 48 hours. “The strikes beginning in Germany will be repeated across Europe,” said Klaus Franz, head of the Opel works council in Germany. “The next move from General Motors will be to blackmail the governments and employees of Europe to finance their unworkable plans for restructuring Opel.” Others joined the attack. “This behaviour of General Motors shows the ugly face of unbridled capitalism,” said Jürgen Rüttgers, governor of North Rhine Westphalia and a leading figure in the German government. The Opel factory at Bochum, in his state, is high on the list of possible closures with the loss of 5,000 jobs. Germany’s bestselling newspaper, Bild Zeitung, described GM as “bullshitters”.
Note EU-Digest: Why doesn't the German Government nationalize Opel?TGm should not be able to get away with this.
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