Opel Workers Across Germany Protest GM Move

Fearing widespread layoffs, thousands of Opel workers walked off the job across Germany on Thursday to protest General Motors Co.'s decision to abandon the unit's sale to new owners.

A red traffic light is seen at the entrance of the Bochum car plant of Opel on Wednesday Nov. 4,...

A red traffic light is seen at the entrance of the Bochum car plant of Opel on Wednesday Nov. 4, 2009. General Motors Co. said Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009 it will keep its European Opel unit and restructure it instead of selling a 55 percent stake to Canadian auto parts maker Magna International and its partner, Russian lender Sberbank. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

(AP)

Their indignation was echoed by Russian and German leaders, who both questioned GM's decision. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin claiming GM exhibited an "arrogant attitude" in abandoning months of negotiations.

Workers at Opel's headquarters in Ruesselsheim vented their frustration and anger at a rally.

"Our trust (in GM) is now zero, and that is the heart of the problem," Klaus Franz, the head of Opel's employee council, told the workers. "We will stand together and fight for our future. We will not be defeated, we are proud, we are Opel."

Organizers estimated that 10,000 workers attended while police put the figure at 6,000. Smaller rallies were being held at factories in Bochum, Eisenach and Kaiserslautern.

German politicians were still furious over the switch. Chancellor Angela Merkel's office said she had discussed it with President Barack Obama, who told her he had no involvement in Tuesday's decision by the board of the majority government-owned company.

Merkel and Putin were a strong backers of the planned sale of a majority in Opel to a consortium of Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc. and Russian lender Sberbank.

The decision was an embarrassment to Merkel, coming hours after she had addressed the U.S. Congress. German officials swiftly demanded a restructuring plan from Detroit and vowed to recover by Nov. 30 a euro1.5 billion ($2.2 billion) bridge loan granted to keep Opel afloat as a buyer was sought.

German workers worry GM will make even more cuts to return Opel to profit than Magna would have. Still, the decision won a cautious welcome from union officials in Britain and Poland, where workers had feared possible cutbacks in a Magna takeover.

Franz, the German union leader, urged GM to come up with a viable plan for Adam Opel GmbH. He argued that Opel should have a more independent status and "no longer be an appendage of GM."