News on English

EMF:GM should pursue alternatives to closure of Trollhattän

"The Saab Trollhättan workforce has made enormous sacrifices to reduce costs and help this GM company survive the economic crisis. These efforts, together with the consultation process with the Swedish unions and authorities, have produced a viable business plan for the future of the company. We trust therefore that General Motors will fully shoulder its responsibilities and agree on an alternative solution to closure of the Trollhättan plant so that all these efforts will not have been in vain", stated EMF General Secretary Peter Scherrer today.

Will GMM Luton get the same as Opel.

Constant preaching that we must match the best in Europe is now the challenge for the preachers.

Strike close GM Thailand factory

The Nation

In a statement, the Workers Union of General Motors said it had submitted a strike notice to the management.

A company source said several factors had led to the strike, including demands for more worker benefits.

The strike led to a temporary closure of the facilities, in order to ensure the safety and security of all employees and property.

The source said it remained unclear when the plant would reopen.

A notice of temporary closure was issued last Saturday under the Employee Relations Act of 1975.

During the temporary closure, GM Thailand said it would continue to pay all wages and benefits to all of its employees.

In the meantime, GM Thailand will continue to negotiate with the union.

Mobilisation of GM workers in Europe

on Wednesday 23 September 2009

at the Opel Plant in Antwerp

13H00-15H00

GM CEO Henderson sees Opel signing by early October

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- General Motors Co. CEO Fritz Henderson expects that a deal to sell a majority in Opel to a Russian-backed consortium around Magna International Inc. can be signed by the beginning of next month.

"We're trying to get all things done by early October," he told reporters at the Frankfurt auto show on Wednesday.

Speaking about GM's domestic business, Henderson said GM expected to achieve its break-even point for the U.S. market next year and added that September retail sales would be "very weak" for GM and the overall industry now that the government's "Cash for Clunkers" scheme had expired.

Henderson said there were four minor issues still to be resolved with Magna on the Opel deal, such as how to implement joint purchasing, but these were easy enough for him to be highly confident a sale could close by the end of this year.

"Please don't misread me in saying we have disagreements -- it's just that the work was prioritized into four major items that are the highest complexity," he said.

"Those are now completed and could be signed today. We just have some work to go on the smaller agreements before all eight can be done."

Unforeseen delays possible

GM plans to conclude the sale by the end of November, but Henderson said he would not rule out the time plan could slip by as much as a month for unforeseen reasons.

Henderson rejected speculation that GM might still be examining alternatives to a Magna deal. GM's chief negotiator on the Opel sale, John Smith, had criticized that offer versus a rival bid from financial investor RHJ International.

"We want this deal to close. We want Opel to succeed -- period," the GM CEO said, adding there were no attempts by GM to wriggle a clause into the deal to buy Opel back in the future.

"There is no call option. There is no put option. So they can't force us to buy and we can't force them to sell. But if they want to sell, we have the right to make an offer," he said.

While state-owned Russian lender Sberbank could not sell its 27.5 percent stake in Opel to just anyone, he was not concerned over a potential sale to Russian carmaker GAZ.

"We're OK with that. We've been OK with that. So if they were to do it tomorrow there would be no problem," he said.

GAZ, which almost formed a joint venture in Russia with GM and Magna over a year ago, has access to GM's intellectual property under the deal and might end up building Opels in Nizhni Novgorod along with Opel's main plant in St. Petersburg.

"It would not likely be done by GAZ, but it could be done," Henderson said, adding that he liked the idea of GM jointly producing with GAZ as previously planned with the joint venture.

Bochum vs. Antwerp

Henderson said Magna's restructuring plans for Opel, which include 10,500 job cuts in Europe, were "sufficient," and that Opel's losses would narrow a lot in 2010 versus this year.

"By 2011, we should be able to see the business get into a profitable position. That was what our plan was that was submitted to the (German) government," he said. "It depends on volumes and many other things but if we execute that business plan together, the business should be able to achieve that."

He said Opel's Belgian plant in Antwerp and its some 2,400 blue-collar workers could face closure under the Magna deal.

"That plant has been under evaluation for some time; no final decision has been taken. But it's certainly at risk," he said, adding that he was not looking to build any crossovers on GM's Gamma subcompact platform in Antwerp. Efficiency metrics like the cost per vehicle did not show that Antwerp was better than Bochum, a German site that would remain open under the deal, Henderson said. The EU could object to the Magna deal were this true.

Cautionary RULE for Employment Tribunals in accepting colleagues evidence against an employee claimant

One of the most awful situations a worker can find himself/herself in is to give evidence in a case involving a claim made by a former/or current colleague who has brought a claim against the employer. In these cases it is inevitable that the most likely persons to witness incidents that are relevant to the claim will be collegues and co-workers who will be called to testify either on behalf of the claimant or the employer. It is a common practice for the employer to approach potential worker witnesses to testify in their favour and most often the employee witness would oblige because of fear of repraisals from the employer if they do not offer to testify in favour of the employer. These repraisals can take various forms from victimisation in promotions to just being treated badly.

Ordinarily, vigorous cross examination of these witnesses would be required to overcome compromised testimony but one finds at tribunals that this does not occur thus allowing the employer to get away with embellishments of facts with the aid of the colleagues of the claimant.

Should there be a cautionary evidence rule which makes it compulsory for tribunals to treat evidence by an employee against his/her colleague in tribunal cases with extreme caution because it is unlikely that anyone will want to testify against their employer and bosses for fear of their jobs or lesser , but significant, victimisation?

GM said to be ready to deliver decision on Opel

DETROIT/FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- General Motors Co. shook up its management and dispatched a negotiator on the sale of its Opel unit to Berlin after a watershed two-day board meeting under the direction of Chairman Ed Whitacre, people familiar with the proceedings said.

GM's 13-member board endorsed the departure of GM's chief financial officer, a new marketing campaign aimed at winning back skeptical U.S. consumers and a still-sealed decision on Opel that will be conveyed to German officials on Thursday, the sources said.

As part of the board review, CFO Ray Young, 47, will leave the automaker after an 18-month stint that included a failed effort to avoid bankruptcy, according to the sources, who were not authorized to discuss the situation.

Meanwhile, John Smith, the GM executive who has headed months of negotiations with the German government and two potential bidders for GM's Opel unit, was on his way to Berlin, the sources said.

Smith will brief the German trust supervising Opel and German government officials before news conferences scheduled for Thursday in Germany, the sources said.

Weighty decision

It was not immediately clear what action the GM board had taken on Opel after spending the past month weighing the merits of selling the European unit against the cost of keeping it.

A group led by Canada's Magna International Inc., North America's largest parts supplier, has a promise for the financial backing of the German government to take control of Opel.

Belgium's RHJ International has a rival bid that GM management has said would be easier to implement.

On Monday, financial adviser KPMG presented a report to GM's board that said the automaker's management had used "overly optimistic" assumptions when it prepared an earlier estimate of the cost of keeping Opel.

German labor and government officials ratcheted up the pressure on GM to take some action at this week's board meeting after directors deferred a decision last month.

Magna Chairman Frank Stronach said earlier on Wednesday that he expected a GM decision on Opel within the next few days or weeks.

Magna remains interested in Opel and would not try to buy other automakers if its bid fell through, Stronach said.

Repayment expected

The German government said earlier in the day that it expected GM to repay a 1.5 billion euro ($2.2 billion) state loan if the automaker called off the Opel sale.

KPMG said GM would need up to $6.1 billion in cash to keep Opel, more than the $4.65 billion it had estimated as late as June, according to a copy of the report presented to the board at the meeting in Detroit.

Opel's fate has become a hot-button political issue in Germany ahead of elections looming at the end of the month since some 25,000 jobs in Germany depend on the GM unit.

Analysts say GM faced a dilemma with Opel since any of the choices carried risks for an automaker struggling to turn itself around under the majority ownership of the U.S. government.

Selling to Magna, as urged by the German government, was seen by some GM executives as risking key small car technology and an edge in the fast-growing Russian auto market, people familiar with the deliberations have said.

The Magna plan involves an equity stake in Opel for Russia's Sberbank and a partnership with the Russian automaker GAZ Group.

European losses

On the other hand, GM's European operations lost $2.8 billion in 2008 and the long-running debate over Opel's fate in Europe has cost the U.S. automaker goodwill with organized labor and other stakeholders, analysts said.

The Magna deal is also the only one of the Opel options that could be quickly implemented, people familiar with the board deliberations said.

The meeting of GM's board was just the second time directors have met after the automaker emerged from bankruptcy with $50 billion in U.S. government financing in July.

GM's corporate culture, recent financial missteps and the oversight of its previous board had all come in for sharp criticism during the U.S. government bailout of the automaker.

CEO Fritz Henderson, who took his post in late March when his predecessor Rick Wagoner was ousted by the Obama administration, has pledged to make the company less bureaucratic and faster-moving.

Young, a 23-year GM veteran, had ascended the ranks at the automaker as a financial manager and was part of a small team under Henderson charged with key decisions on strategy.

Marketing campaign

Bob Lutz, 77, a GM vice-chairman, is also a member of that committee after taking up the assignment of revamping the automaker's marketing efforts.

Lutz has said GM would take direct aim at rivals in upcoming ads for its Chevy, Buick, Cadillac and GMC brands in order to challenge consumer perceptions that its vehicles lag on quality or fuel economy.

Part of the GM board meeting this week was devoted to reviewing those plans for the new harder-edged marketing campaign, one person briefed on the discussions said.

Whitacre will be the focus of corporate-focused ads kicking off the campaign, people familiar with the plan told Automotive News.

GM's U.S. sales have plunged 35 percent through August, and it failed to gain as much as rivals from the U.S. government's cash- for-clunkers incentive program

VENEZUELA: GM to resume production after three months

From: just-auto global news

GM will end a three-month stoppage at its Venezuela plants next week after reaching an agreement with the government of President Hugo Chavez to free up foreign currency to import parts.

The GM Mystery

The drama continues and the tension increases as the movers and shakers anGM play business tatics. Working together certainly does not mean sharing together information about the corporation. Moving with asense of urgency and Go Fast only applies to those that do the real work of making money. Speaking of money is there anyone in the corporation that could possibly explain in some detail why Opel or Vauxhall need money. I am at a total loss of understanding in the light of the fact that they have sold every vehicle as fast as they could make it at every manufacturing location for the past 25 years.

Here at GMM Luton (IBC Vehicles) the building is so old and it has paid for itself several thousand times over in the distant past. There has been no investment at Luton for 10 years but there has been non stop production of vans, 24 hours a day 5 days a week. Giving the retail cost of the vans the profit made at IBC must require a large number zeros to represent it. So, this brings me to another crucial question, Why is the Trade Union mounting a meaningless campaign of asking for government help?

Surely they should be finding out where all the profit is going? We could also be very happy to hear from the trade union why they think GMM Luton needs finnancial support from the government. I wonder if we are just being subjected to trade union spin in the form of banners declaring their support for Vauxhall workers. Well thanks very much for your kindness but I dont think our contributions are for this kind of patronising tripe.

We pay the unions to find out exactly how the company operates and to protect us within those conditions. I suppose this is very difficult if union representatives hide in a typeof cesspit within the factory and make sure they stir no shit in case management makes the return to the real world. For the trade union it seems to be a case of hear no problems, see no problems and definatelysolveno problems.

Just imagine if we lived in a world where corporations were unable to stopthe trade unions from providing real, meaningful support and protection for workers. Any ideas out there for a real challenge to corporate domination?

Cash for Clunkers spurs production in the US

General Motors Co said on Tuesday it is increasing production in North America for the second half of 2009 after a surge in sales ignited by the U.S. government's "Cash for Clunkers" incentives program.

Update from the struggle in Korea

After some 17 days without food, water and medical supplies (police and management stopped ambulances from getting to the sit-in strike area and cut off the gas, electricity and even the water to the Ssangyong Motor plant despite the heat wave in Korea)

ABVV-METAAL (ANTWERP) SOLIDARITY WITH SSANYONG-STRIKERS

Antwerp, August 17th 2009.

To: The Korean workers and Trade Unions.

Why should any union back the RHJI offer?

I am wondering why some European unions seems to back the RHJI offer for opel/vauxhall. Just for the simple reason they promise Ellesmere Port a big capacity utilization? Is that all what counts for being a sustainable investor??? What about keeping the old structure of GME management? No problem with that?

OPEL UNIONS WANT MERKEL TO INTERVENE

Opel's top labor leader and board member, Klaus Franz, wants German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her foreign minister to intervene personally in stalled talks between Magna and General Motors GM.UL and push for progress, he told Reuters on Friday.

Urgent update from Korea

Yesterday, the company goons ripped apart the shelters of solidarity supporters encamped outside the plant and arrested KMWU Vice President WOO, Byeong-kuk at the scene. When the news of the all-out raid spread, a swell of workers and students kept streaming to Pyeongtaek and spontaneous rallies began with first 100, then 200, then 600-700 . Right now supporters are peacefully marching to the plant and some two dozen are being arrested with police firing water cannons on the march.

Amnesty: SOUTH KOREA: CALL FOR UNIMPEDED ACCESS TO FOOD, WATER AND NECESSARY MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR SSANYONG STRIKING WORKERS

Basic message is --> Whatever the circumstances, the state should not be denying or impeding human beings access to water, food, medical care nor allowing third parties to do so in order to stop a strike.

Urgent Appeal for Solidarity

Stop suppression of Ssangyong Motor workers’ strike! Lift the blockade! Negotiate!
Police and management deny strikers access
to food, water, medical treatment

Facts have been clarified – Negotiations to be continued

After the negotiations in Berlin had been stopped efforts were made to clear up the situation with all negotiating parties during the day and find ways to solve the open issues.

Fighting back helps

Where's the comments ?

Does German Government only protect German jobs?

The more you read the news about the talks between German government and the 3 potential Opel investors the more you can have the impression that the plants outside of German will have to pay the price.