Opel plant in Rüsselsheim
All Opel employees who have personally objected to their planned transfer to Segula have now been released from their duties with immediate effect.
Munich It is done. Beaming with joy, Christian Müller and Martin Lange look into the camera. With a strong handshake seal the OpelDevelopment boss and the German governor of Segula their strategic partnership. Twelve months after the announcement that the Hessian car manufacturer wants to outsource 2000 of 6,500 employees in its development center ITEZ at the headquarters in Rüsselsheim to the French service provider, Both executives can now report execution,
“We kept our word,” rejoices Lange. “With the strategic partnership, we are making our development activities in the region sustainably competitive,” assists Müller. One has a “responsible solution” for the overcapacity Opel found.
What the two do not say: The collaboration is not even half as big as originally planned. Only about 700 employees change to Segula. And instead of new perspectives, at least 27 refractory specialists will still be given notice of termination this Friday, it says in unison in business circles. An Opel spokesman confirmed the layoffs.
The reason: All Opel employees who have personally objected to their planned transfer to Segula have now been relieved of their duty to work with immediate effect. “Unfortunately, we feel obliged to indemnify you from Friday, 30.08.2019 continue to pay your salaries and credited any interim earnings from your obligation to perform work,” it says in a letter from Opel personnel manager Ralph Wangemann to sufferers, which is the Handelsblatt.
Until 31.12.2019 the exemption is “irrevocable”, then “revocable”, explains Wangemann with “best regards”. Either way, some Opel specialists have already received notice of termination, confirmed the Handelsblatt several people familiar with the processes.
Although the employees of the car manufacturer are actually protected from operational layoffs until 2023, this protection will be extinguished for all those who have explicitly objected to the transfer of business to Segula. For example, there is an agreement between management and employee representatives in March 2019, emphasizes Opel. “This process and the consequences of a contradiction have been explained in detail to the employees in the past few months”, the group informs on request and confirms: “The number of contradictions is in the low double-digit range”.
Nevertheless, redundancies are an affront. In Rüsselsheim it is bubbling properly. “It is a drastic historical process at Opel, because for decades despite all crises at Opel no-one was terminated due to operational reasons,” criticized the works council in a leaflet that is the Handelsblatt. While management is celebrating the strategic partnership with Segula, this is a “sad day” for employees.
The employee representatives emphasize their solidarity with the change and the dismissals. “We understand the displeasure that the management did not thank you for your work with and for Opel.” The works council also dislikes, according to its own admission to the dismissals have not been heard: “This is a one-time process,” it says in the leaflet. The Opel management, however, takes a different legal view: “A hearing was not necessary in this case,” said a company spokesman.
Previously, the employees had sharply criticized in another circular letter the transfer of business “hastily initiated by the management”. “In order to bring order to chaos, to ensure working capacity and not to jeopardize project start-ups, the workers have suggested that all employees who have been” transferred to the contract against their will “remain with Opel and be lent to Segula instead , “The implementation would contribute to the pacification, ensure the work ability of both companies concerned, avoid conflicts with the employees and, if necessary, carry out lengthy legal proceedings,” the works councils wrote.
So-called employee leasing to Segula rejects the management of Opel boss Michael Lohscheller but decided from. Instead, around 150 Opel employees will be providing certain services to Segula for roughly half a year to ensure a smooth handover of 120 engine and chassis dynamometers, 20 buildings and related orders. “We confirm that there will be so-called Transitional Service Agreements (TSA) in the initial phase of the partnership with Segula,” said an Opel spokesman: “Transitional Service Agreements are absolutely normal in the industry”.
Furthermore, Segula receives from Opel start-up financing totaling 190 million euros, which will be disbursed in several installments. This emerges from a company transfer agreement, which is available to Handelsblatt. Accordingly, already ten million euros have flowed to Segula. With the completion of the strategic partnership, another 80 million euros will go to the French account, 37 million in 13 months, 33 million in 25 months and another 30 million in 37 months.
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