Opel workers agree pay cuts

Opel workers have agreed to contribute 265m euros (£238m) a year in pay to help pave the way for a deal between General Motors and Magna.

Employees said they would accept a cut in Christmas and holiday pay, delay a wage increase until 2011 and suspend pension contributions for two years.

Magna has asked for the concessions as part of the deal to acquire a 55 per cent stake in the GM’s European arm.

“The cuts are hard for us all, but we’re prepared to accept responsibility,” Klaus Franz, Opel’s labour chief, said in the statement. “We have done our part so that the contract between Magna and General Motors can be signed.”

Opel’s workforce of 50,000 said the cuts were conditional on a contract being signed between the two companies.

Magna and partner OAO Sberbank have agreed to pump 500m euros (£450m) into Opel and Vauxhall in return for the stake.

Opel’s workforce are reportedly getting a 10 per cent stake in the car maker in return for the concessions.

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