Brigitte Zypries, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, today hosted a discussion between representatives of the Federal Government, Länder, IG Metall (metal-workers’ trade union) and the general works council of Opel, and Carlos Tavares, Chairman of the Managing Board of PSA, and Olivier Bourges, General Counselor of PSA, on the planned acquisition of Opel/Vauxhall by PSA Group.
In addition to Minister Zypries and State Secretary Matthias Machnig, the meeting was attended by Marie-Luise Dreyer, Minister-President of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate, Bodo Ramelow, Minister-President of the Free State of Thuringia, Tarek Al-Wazir, Economic Affairs Minister of the State of Hesse, Jörg Hofmann, First Chair of IG Metall, and Lothar Sorger, deputy chair of the general works council of Adam Opel AG.
The meeting took place in a most constructive atmosphere. The participants expressed their appreciation of the outstanding importance of PSA Group and Adam Opel AG, and agreed that the alliance between PSA and Opel/Vauxhall can offer significant advantages to both sides.
Mr Tavares underlined opportunities of this alliance for PSA Group and Opel/Vauxhall and demonstrated how the transaction would establish a European leader with #1 or #2 position in each key market in Europe.
The participants discussed the following points which are of particular significance for the successful integration of Opel/Vauxhall into the PSA Group:
- The establishment of a dialogue based on trust and transparency between the management of the companies, the general works council of Opel/Vauxhall, the trade unions and all other stakeholders.
- The impact of the acquisition of Opel/Vauxhall by PSA on the existing labour agreements, site protection and job guarantees. In this regard, PSA Group reaffirmed its commitment to respect the existing agreements in the European countries.
- The continuation of Opel/Vauxhall as a single company with independent brands within the PSA Group.
- The agreement to work together with the trade unions and the general works council to ensure the long-term viability of the Opel/Vauxhall brands, production sites and the development centre in Europe.
Minister Zypries: “I am glad that we have made further progress, not least in the interest of the employees of Opel/Vauxhall. I particularly welcome the commitment by Mr Tavares to respect and continue all the collective agreements. The Federal Government and the Länder will continue to lend their constructive support to the process of merging PSA and Opel/Vauxhall.”
Carlos Tavares: “In our meeting today I have reaffirmed PSA Group’s ambition to build on the quality of relations with employee representatives as a key factor of success of the company.”
Jörg Hofmann: “The Metalworkers‘Union expects that Mr Tavares works with GM to ensure that all of the legal requirements are met so that the existing collective agreements can continue to be applied and fulfilled.”
Lothar Sorger: “We also agreed today with Mr Tavares that as soon as the legal preconditions are in place, we – IG Metall, the general works council, PSA and the board of Opel – will engage in discussions on the future of Opel.”
The different parties confirmed the desire to keep an open and constructive dialogue in the interest of a viable long-term future of Opel and its employees and agreed to reconvene at a future point of time.
