Escalation at Opel: Ministers ask PSA chief for crisis summit – and Tavares does not come

04/16/2018

Escalation at Opel Minister ask PSA chief for crisis summit – and Tavares is not coming

AP; AFP; REUTERS

Economics Minister Peter Altmaier, Carlos Tavarez, Labor Minister Hubertus Heil: Two federal ministers invite – and the boss of the Opel-dam PSA does not come

When PSA boss Carlos Tavares telephoned Chancellor Angela Merkel at the end of February 2017, German-French friendship prevailed. It was about the planned acquisition of the Rüsselsheim car manufacturer Opel. The French would get the independence of Opel in the new group, assured Tavares the Chancellor. And he himself wants to “continue the dialogue with all involved parties in order to improve the performance of Opel and to secure the future of the company and its employees”. Tavares won the chancellor for his project. They were looking forward to a better future for Opel GmbH, which has been suffering for many years.

Meanwhile, the mood is not so good. You could also say she is bad.

This afternoon, a high-level round of politicians, trade unionists and works councils met in Berlin to discuss the situation at Opel. Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier and Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil had invited to the Ministry of Economic Affairs; The ministers worried about the future of Opel-Werke and jobs, according to Berlin.

Hesse’s Prime Minister Volker Bouffier and the Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer had come to the crisis summit, just as IG Metall boss Jörg Hofmann and Opel works council leader Wolfgang Schäfer-Klug. Only one was missing: PSA boss Tavares.

Tavares snubs politics

Altmaier and Heil had expressly invited him. However, Tavares canceled. PSA and Opel could not have followed the invitation due to the short lead time, said an Opel spokesman. But they said they were ready to “continue the bilateral dialogue with federal and state policy”.

There are Controversy, in particular, about the plant in Eisenach. IG Metall accuses Tavares and Opel boss Michael Lohscheller, one does not abide by 2017 given commitments.

An Opel spokesman said management wanted to make the company successful again after nearly 20 years of recurring losses and thousands of job cuts.

Opel has written a minus of 179 million euros in the last five months of 2017 – since the transition to PSA. Tavares and Opel boss Michael Lohscheller therefore want to tighten the course of austerity. In Eisenach originally planned models are apparently to be built only on the condition that the IG Metall approved deviations from the collective agreement.

Opel boss Lohscheller makes investments dependent on yield of IG Metall

Opel boss Lohscheller informed the workforce today in a letter that in Eisenach should actually be built from the first half of 2019 to an electrifiable vehicle. You would have wanted to announce that already. However, the investment did not receive the green light because the negotiations with the social partners did not lead to an agreement.

Leading SPD politicians today urged Opel and PSA to comply with the 2017 “Commitments for Investments and Employees” commitments.

Prime Minister Malu Dreyer, SPD parliamentary group leader Andrea Nahles and the Thuringian Minister of Economic Affairs Wolfgang Tiefensee turned specifically to Tavares. Hesse SPD leader Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel warned, “PSA and Opel are facing a direction decision, and we warn of a dead end.”

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