Solidarity Forever: German Unions Against Government Money For Opel

What got into the German unions? The powerful German metal workers union IG Metall is vehemently against government aid for Opel. The Berlin paper Der Tagesspiegel writes that union chief Armin Schild appealed to the federal government in Berlin and to the Opel states: “No government aid should be given on the basis of this restructuring plan.”“This restructuring plan” is Nick Reilly’s “Viability Plan VI” which other union leaders already called “a declaration of war.” This restructuring plan – and the closing of Antwerp – already caused the unions to take their wage concessions of €265m annually off the table. That deal was planned for five years. Another €1.3b down the drain.Quite interestingly, union boss Schild and works council chief Klaus Franz could stomach some of the job losses described in the plan. What irks them is the lack of vision and budgets for a better future of Opel.In the labor leaders’ cross-hairs: Instead of going 5 years out, as customary, Reilly’s plan ends in 2012. No budgets for new markets. R&D for new power trains: Grossly underfunded. Engines: 5 years behind the competition. DCTs: What DCTs?A world upside down: Unions worry about long term viability, new markets and competitiveness, while management sabotages progress.Another world upside down: The unions and the center-right German government, which is usually more business-minded, are in a state of rare solidarity: Nobody is clamoring to rescue Opel.Reilly wants to collect up to €2.7b from various governments, and said that the plan is already being reviewed by the powers-to-be.With more than half of the Opel jobs in Germany, the EU’s country with the deepest pockets, one would think that Reilly is in constant contact with Berlin. Nothing could be farther from the truth.“We have received neither a business plan, nor an application for aid,” said a speaker of the German Economy Ministry to Der Tagesspiegel. “There are no discussions at the moment.”Reilly’s optimism also causes surprise in the four states in which Opel has plants. “There are no new developments,” said a speaker of the government in North Rhine Westphalia.Developments or no development: It has been made clear and official that no state government in Germany is willing to help Opel, unless GM puts considerably more money on the table.In the eternal quest to explain the unexplainable, Der Tagesspiegel has one possible explanation why Reilly is AWOL: Reilly might be back home in the U.K., twisting arms. “In the U.K., where 4,500 people work for GM, a new parliament will be up for election soon. Election campaigns – as proven in summer 2009 in Germany – are the ideal backdrop to loosen some tax payer’s money for Opel.”True. But once the elections are over …