GM To Opel Unions: Surrender, Or We'll Send The UAW
Even at Germany’s IG Metall metal workers union the daily BILD Zeitung was put aside today to make room for the fancy Wall Street Journal. The paper claims to have talked to “a GM official,” who thinks that all hell is about to break loose at Opel in Germany.
In a nutshell:
- GM is looking at “horrendous” fourth quarter losses from Opel
- Patience at RenCen is running out
- The plants in Bochum, Germany, and Ellesmere Port, England, could get closed.
Said the nameless official:
“There is increasing frustration with Opel and a feeling that the cuts two years ago did not go nearly deep enough. If Opel is going to get fixed, it is going to get fixed now and cuts are going to be deep.”
GM spokesman Selim Bingol told the WSJ that “the official’s comments don’t represent the company’s official stance with the union.”
Germany’s Handelsblatt immediately was on the story and produced the scoop of the day: UAW’s Bob King becomes a member of the Opel Supervisory Board. Neither Handelsblatt in Germany nor the Detroit News in Detroit could get an official confirmation, but received no denial either. The DetN found “ source familiar with the situation” that said it’s true.
Now that’s a new and clever threat: Say ja to the firings, or we’ll sic the UAW on you.
Meanwhile a new enemy is targeting Opel: Hyundai. The Koreans want to gain market share in Germany mainly from Opel and from Ford, writes the Handelsblatt.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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After having been burned by one of the opel products I can only say that I am not unbiased as I watch this play out.
I have also enjoyed recently excellent Opel products, being a pleasure to drive them. Opel engineering is really top-notch and GM is lucky to have such a resource that enables to turn out very successful products. Having said that, it is true that Opel needs a strong restructuring, namely in Germany where the major manufacturing footprint is. I hope GM does the right thing to ensure the long term sustainability of Opel and the resources it provides.
Wait a couple of months until Greece bails out and then attempt to close the plants.. I'm sure the German Gov will throw lots on money in to prevent that.
“the official’s comments don’t represent the company’s official stance with the union.” Truth disguised as doublespeak. Fixing Opel immediately really is the objective, but the company just isn't telling the union that. Bob King? He'll quietly whisper to the Opel union how to retain just enough jobs without closing down the whole works. Maybe they'll get a two-tier pay system. This way, the union bosses will keep their jobs while the rank-and-file become Lilliputians, who will wake up one day and realize their union's leadership learned about cannibalism from the Americans. This will appear to serve the company (lower cost) and the union (keep some jobs), but will be insufficient to satisfy either party.