The US United Auto Workers (UAW) announced its president, Bob King, had been appointed to the supervisory board of General Motor Europe’s Opel.
King was appointed by IG Metall, the German’s metalworkers union, to serve as a labour representative on Opel’s supervisory board, UAW spokeswoman Michele Martin told French news agency AFP. The appointment is effective 1 June.
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King’s presence on the board had been quietly promoted by General Motors in the US which had worked closely with King during a sweeping restructuring and government-supervised bankruptcy of the automaker in 2009 and 2010.
King also was the union’s top negotiator when it agreed to forego raises for senior employees at GM, Ford and Chrysler for the next four years.
AFP also noted he had worked closely in the past with Steven Girsky, the GM vice chairman and the chairman of the Opel supervisory board, who has been tasked with runing around the money-losing Germany-based unit.
Since taking over as UAW president in 2010, King has stressed cooperation as a way to save and ultimately create jobs.
Once known as a firebrand, he has helped negotiations in recent years that have led to plant closings and major concessions by UAW members.
With his new appointment, he is being thrust into the middle of the confrontation between GM and Opel on one side and IG Metall, which recently said it would not accept any restructuring that includes plant closings.
GM has made clear factory closures are critical to restoring profitability in the region and Bochum and Eisenach in Germany and Ellesmere Port in England are currently in its sights.
