Opal plants will not be outsourced

Success for employees of carmaker Opel: Production plants of Stelantis Group’s German subsidiary are not to be outsourced. Staff representatives respond with relief.

Auto company Stellantis after strong protest by employees Abandoned the plan, the production plant of his German subsidiary Opel The outsourced Astra factory headquartered in Russelheim and the factory in Eisenach, Thuringia are to be continued within the German Opel Automobile GmbH, as are the companies and IG Metal Reported on Wednesday.

A similar collective agreement has been concluded. Eisenach would then function as a wholly owned subsidiary within Opel GmbH, as it had done years earlier.

At the Eisenach site, production is also scheduled to resume at the beginning of the year, as announced by both sides. During this time it was stopped due to shortage of parts and staff. short time work Has been sent. The plant will produce full volumes of the Opel Grandland model in the future, Stelantis explained. Meanwhile the car has been assembled at other Stellantis locations as well.

The workers had the support of politics

IG Metal and Works Council feared for their co-fixing rights on the announced spin-off and opposed a possible “break-up”. The workers also had support from the state governments of Hesse, Thuringia and Rhineland-Palatinate, whose economics minister is expected to meet with Opel boss Uwe Hochgeschartz on Friday. Opel still has a constituent plant in Kaiserslautern.

Bernd Loesche, head of the Eisenach Works Council, reacted with relief to the agreement, which, according to an internal communication, will come into force at least until the end of 2022. According to a statement, Loesche said: “Grandland in particular to Eisenach now brings the binding commitment we need in Eisenach to be more future proof.”

Jörg Koehlinger, president of the IG Metal District Centre, said that Opel’s spin-off and break-up were prevented and employment was secure. He added: “I expect management to run the company in a more creative and transparent manner in the future and that from now on Opel will only inspire employees and the public with innovative vehicles.”