European trade unions have condemned GM’s decision to close its Portuguese car plant, warning of new strikes if it does not fulfill obligations to workers, according to Dow Jones.
GM has said that it will close the Azambuja plant at the end of this year with the loss of 1,200 jobs. Production of the Opel/Vauxhall Combo light commercial vehicle will be transferred to Spain. GM claims that high costs at the plant made the closure necessary.
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Workers in Portugal and Germany walked out of car factories last month in protest at the move and reports that GM wants to shift more vehicle production from Western Europe to lower cost Eastern Europe.
The Dow Jones report said that the European Metalworkers’ Federation has warned of repeat work stoppages at GM’s European plants unless management helped attract new investors to the site.
“If GM management is not willing to fulfill its social responsibilities, the metalworkers’ trade unions will have to react accordingly,” said EMF General Secretary Peter Scherrer.
The European Employee Forum protested that the closure of a ‘profitable plant’ could not be excused, alleging that GM was not reducing overcapacity or restructuring a ‘crippled’ company.
“It is a fundamental change of GM’s strategy which plans to close its plants in [western]Europe and to transfer production to low-cost countries,” said EEF chairman Klaus Franz.
The Portuguese government said it was surprised to learn of GM’s decision to pull out and pledged to take the matter up with EU regulators because much of the funding came from the EU.
GM has said it is ready to repay the government ‘any unearned state aid’ and that it would like to work with the government to identify new investors for the site and ensure a smooth transition for the workers.
