Unions Declare War On GM

In an effort to keep their jobs some unions in Europe have declared war on General Motors. They claim that GM declared war on them first.

BERLIN (AP) -- Employee representatives at General Motors Co.'s Opel unit on Friday slammed the automaker's announcement it would cut 8,300 jobs and close its plant in Belgium as a "declaration of war" on European workers.

Armin Schild, head of the IG Metall union in Frankfurt and a member of Opel's board, criticized GM for lacking a clear and thoroughly financed restructuring concept, the DAPD news agency reported.

"Now, GM is apparently off on the next horror trip," Schild said.

He criticized GM for mismanaging the company for 15 years and called the planned closure of the site in Antwerp, Belgium, "a declaration of war against all European Opel employees."

Opel CEO Nick Reilly announced on Thursday that the company will cut 8,300 jobs across Europe, including 4,000 in Germany, and close the plant in Antwerp -- casualties of the "tough reality" of a shrinking European auto market.

Of course. Declaring war on your employer is always a smart move. A smarter move would have been to ask Obama to bail them out. After all he is very popular in Europe.