Magna may close Opel’s Spanish plant if workers reject a new deal to keep it open at the cost of 900 jobs, Spain’s industry minister has said.
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“It would be a very bad option. I think the company has yet to close the sales deal with General Motors, so they would have to decouple themselves from the plant,” Miguel Sebastian told state radio on Friday, according to Reuters.
“But I sincerely believe it is a very positive deal in the long term, although it requires a short-term sacrifice.”
Last month, Sebastian dismissed an initial proposal by Magna to cut 1,700 jobs at the Figueruelas plant near Zaragoza in northern Spain, which makes the Corsa and Meriva, as part of its purchase of a majority stake in Opel in partnership with Russia’s Sberbank.
A new deal was reached on Thursday between Magna and unions, who were due to present the plan to members on Monday.
But the unions still plan to call four one-day strikes until the agreement with Magna has been ratified.
Unions told AFP Magna had also pledged to maintain the bulk of the production at the plant of Opel’s five-door Corsa, Merival and other models. Unions had feared some production would be moved to Germany.
“Magna is committed to maintaining two production lines and with production capacity of 478,000 units per year,” the UGT union said.
