**The union Unite has welcomed General Motors’ (GM) decision to retain ownership of UK car brand Vauxhall.**The US carmaker had agreed to sell European brands Opel and Vauxhall, but cancelled that plan on Tuesday.
Unite chief Tony Woodley, a former Vauxhall worker, said it was a “fantastic decision”.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson he was keen for “very early discussions” with GM over how their plans affect its British workers.
“I have always said that if the right long-term sustainable solution is identified, then the government would be willing to support this,” Lord Mandelson said.
Opel employs a total of 54,000 workers across Europe, with 25,000 based in Germany.
In the UK, its Vauxhall brand employs 5,500 people across two plants in Luton and Ellesmere Port.
Protracted sale
However, some workers arriving this morning at Ellesmere Port, where they make the Astra model, were less than enthusiastic about the latest twist in the saga over GM’s European operations.
“Hopefully it’s good news but there are no guarantees,” one employee told the BBC. “Whoever was going to own us, there’s still going to be cutbacks.”
“I am pleased we will be dealing with GM because we know them and we understand their culture”
John Featherstone, Unite
GM first said in March that it wanted to offload Opel, which includes Vauxhall, when the US firm entered a period of bankruptcy protection that eventually saw it emerge with the US government as its biggest shareholder.
After months of negotiations, GM finally agreed to sell the brands to Canadian car parts maker Magna in September, with the German government pledging Magna 4.5bn euros ($6.7bn; £4bn) in loans.
But on Tuesday the US giant said it had now decided not to sell the business because of “an improving business environment for GM over the past few months”, and would now be seeking aid for Opel from the German government and other European states.
‘We know them’
Mr Woodley told the BBC that GM’s news was an “incredible turnaround”.
“The decision is in my view a fantastic decision and the right decision for General Motors themselves,” he said.
“There’s no logic in breaking up the company. I believe it is the right decision in spite of a good deal that we’d struck with Magna.”
Unite, the main union at Vauxhall, last month reached a deal with Magna to limit job cuts at the two factories to just 600 people, and all through voluntary redundancy.
John Featherstone, Unite’s convenor at Ellesmere Port, said he believed there would still be some restructuring in the UK, “but I am pleased we will be dealing with GM because we know them and we understand their culture - and they know us”.
The decision to sell Opel to Magna had been controversial because of the German government’s offer of the 4.5bn euro loans.
The European Commission warned last month that Berlin’s offer of this aid may breach European competition rules, although the German government immediately denied any wrongdoing.
German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said Berlin regretted GM’s scrapping of the Opel sale, adding that it wanted GM to repay 1.5bn euros in bridge financing extended by German banks.
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