Opel Moving Astra Production Out of Germany, Workers Striking

In a series of stories published on May 7 and 8, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that General MotorsGMUnited States of America, 1998 > present8 models
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plans to move production of the Opel AstraOpel Astra Gen.4 [J/D]Germany, 2010 > 2015194 versions
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out of its historic home in Rüsselsheim, Germany, to factories in Ellesmere Port, England, and Gliwice, Poland. Workers at the Rüsselsheim factory are staging warning strikes already.

GM wants to move production to England and Poland to end the losses it has been taking from OpelOpelGermany, 1863 > present85 models
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. It believes the workforces their are more flexible and work more cheaply. If it goes through with the decision, the close of the line would not take place until the introduction of the next generation Astra in 2015. 

The loss of the Astra from Rüsselsheim would be massive. The model is the company's second-largest selling model after the CorsaOpel Corsa Gen.4 [D]Germany, 2006 > present222 versions
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, and Opel builds about 330,000 of them each year. If it stopped building the model, the Rüsselsheim factory would operate at a third of capacity and only produce the InsigniaOpel InsigniaGermany, 2003 > present409 versions
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. 

"It is as if you would stop building the GolfVolkswagen Golf Gen.6 [Mk6 - A6/Typ 5K]Germany, 2009 > 2012249 versions
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in Wolfsburg," said one union member. 

To prevent the loss of the model, GM council chairman Wolfgang Schäfer-Klug has become an arbitrator, and submitted a counter proposal for wage concessions from the workers that would keep the Astra in Rüsselsheim to GM Vice President Stephen Girsky. Klug has called the decision to remove the model a, "catastrophic mistake."

The workers have a strong ally in supplier IG Metal who wants the production of the Astra to stay in Germany. It threatened that if production were moved, it would withdraw its support of GM management. IG Metal's union plants to protest alongside the Opel union in this matter. 

On May 7, 8,000 Opel employees staged a warning strike to protest the loss of the Astra. The most recent worries are if the Astra is moved out of Germany, the ZafiraOpel Zafira Gen.3 [C]Germany, 2011 > present77 versions
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will be moved from the factory in Bochum to Rüsselsheim. That puts the Bochum factory in jeopardy. 

This year is the company's 150th anniversary. It opened a factory is Rüsselsheim January 21, 1862, to produce sewing machines and began producing cars in 1899. 

Over the past three years, Opel has laid off 8,000 workers, and it is possible it could have its sixth year loss in a row. Since 1999, the company has lost GM $16 billion. This is part of the reason that GM purchased a 7% share in PeugeotPeugeotFrance, 1882 > present120 models
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earlier this year. Opel and Peugeot will combine on logistics

Source: Automotive News and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (1,2,3,4)