Reuters (Ruesselsheim, Germany) - Opel labour leader Wolfgang Schaefer-Klug said a deal with management over the restructuring of General Motors' loss-making European brand could be achieved in two to three months, paving the way for a return to profitability.
'It is necessary and realistic,' he told reporters in front of Opel's factory in Ruesselsheim, after a demonstration in which 4,000 workers, according to Opel estimates, downed tools for two hours as part of countrywide strikes.
German union IG Metall, which put the number of staff on strike at 8,000, is staging temporary walkouts to underline its demands for 6.5 percent higher pay for the 3.64 million workers in the manufacturing industry, arguing a salary increase would boost domestic demand and spur economic growth.
'There is probably no single company in Germany that has a greater interest in higher wages in Germany and Europe than Opel,' IG Metall regional boss Armin Schild told the company's striking workers.
Chief Executive Karl-Friedrich Stracke said in March restructuring talks might take two to three months, only to tell reporters last week it would take another couple of months before he could present the details.
The GM brand's troubles are inextricably linked to the ongoing euro zone malaise.
Opel is almost entirely dependent on a European mass car market that is expected to tumble to a fresh decade low this year as austerity programmes lessen demand and send unemployment soaring in countries such as Spain, where one in four is out of work.
On average, Opel lost $628 for each of the 1.19 million cars it made last year, since its fixed costs are geared towards selling an additional 500,000 vehicles - the equivalent of two major manufacturing plants.
Rivals Fiat, Peugeot and Renault are also suffering from a production base that is heavily concentrated in high-wage countries in western Europe.
