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F In fact, everything had looked like a truce at Opel, because the management and the company committee had agreed on a rehabilitation package at the end of May. For weeks, workers and Opel management have already clashed. The result was a partial wage waiver for Opel, the loss of 3,700 jobs, but also a job guarantee for the other employees of the builder until July 2023.
But since Tuesday , it is clear that the peace in Rüsselsheim was short-lived: Late in the evening, the French newspaper Le Monde reported that the new owner of Opel, the French group PSA (Peugeot and Citroën), plans to sell a much of the development center (ITEZ) in Rüsselsheim.
The pride of the Opel: Nearly 7,700 employees are developing not only the new Opel models in Hesse, but also tasks for the other brands of the group under the former US owner General Motors (GM). Opel was not just one of the many US brands. In Rüsselsheim, people were always proud to develop their own models.
However, according to "The World", there are already concrete discussions about the at least partial sale of the heart of Opel. French journalists refer to a May document. It even specifies which departments should be affected: vehicle development, drive technology, tool development and testing center. Even a price tag already has the object of sale according to "The World". Surfaces must be valued at 500 million euros.
Christian Müller, Head of Development, made a presentation to interested companies. In this document, he would have "sought a durable solution for the employees", it is a "partnership" or a "concept of co-owner". The newspaper even mentions four concrete interested parties: the French companies Altran, Akka and Segula as well as the German company Bertrandt. These are service providers that car manufacturers can rely on if they do not want to carry out development services within their own group. Altran is currently the favorite. It is also conceivable that Opel / PSA and a prospective buyer will jointly continue the development departments. However, the presentation also indicated that everything was still subject to negotiations with the "social partners". It means unions and company committees. But that probably has not been included.
"Our attitude is clear: a buyout of Opel's development would take Opel's future," said Wolfgang Schäfer-Klug, director of the company's board of directors. Opel. "The production, service and administration areas can not give any identity to an Opel development center without the development center." Management also announced plans to plan "strategic partnerships" with external companies during negotiations on the concept of restructuring. "We have always rejected that," Schäfer-Klug said. Management also asked if there were any concrete sales intentions for parts of the development center. If the information in the French press is correct, it means that "knowingly, IG Metall and Einigungsstelle with the president of the court have said the untruth," Schäfer said. -Klug. As a result, the company committee convened Thursday a short-term work meeting, with management to clarify things. "IG Metall and the General Works Council will not accept such an attack on Opel's core brand and employment at ITEZ without a fight," Schäfer-Klug said.
Neither PSA nor Opel denied talks on partnerships and partial sales on Wednesday. The research center will continue to develop all Opel / Vauxhall vehicles, said a spokeswoman for Opel's French mother PSA on request. However, research and development for other brands of the former GM owner constituted a large part of the activities of the Center. After selling Opel to PSA, the American company decided to resume these activities. The capabilities of the development center are therefore no longer occupied.
He is currently in talks with the social partners, said the PSA spokesman. He can not say how long it will take before a decision is made. Until now, there is no decision and it is too early to say if half of the jobs could be affected, as reported "The World". As a result, GM is currently responsible for 40% of the use of the development center. In the departments for sale about 4,000 of the total of 7,700 employees would work.
Opel boss Michael Lohscheller contradicted the representation of the company committee, they knew nothing of finding partners for the development center. "We have been in regular discussions with IG Metall and the General Works Council since December 2017 that we are considering strategic engineering partnerships as an option to secure long-term employment in ITEZ," he said. declared. This information was also part of the agreement signed in 2017 by the general company committee. "The badertion that we refused such plans in the Einigungsstelle is false."
Lohscheller pointed out that development remains at the heart of Opel, not only will they design their own cars here, but will also take over the parent company PSA. "We want to build ourselves as a complete and explicitly qualified enterprise in the sustainable, secure and successful job site on the site," said Lohscheller. However, we know that "GM's order volumes will decrease drastically in the coming years". As a result, management is testing different options. "Strategic partnerships with other companies are part of these considerations."
Currently, however, no decision has been made. "It is not yet clear what options could be viable solutions," he said. "I am convinced that it is our duty, as the management team, to examine all the possibilities of securing on a permanent basis on-the-job employment". We maintain the agreed employment guarantee until 2023. However, the current agreement has not yet been fixed in writing, they want to conclude a collective agreement this week. That it succeeds, should again be extremely uncertain.
Automotive expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer accuses the French of having planned from the outset, including taking over the Opel brand and sales of about 1.2 million vehicles, not their capabilities but development and production. "It must be badumed that this will not be the last campaign to improve profitability," said the director of the Automotive Research Center (CAR). "The sale of large parts of the Opel Development Center to a development service provider should be only an intermediate step on the road to Opel."
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