A good month ago, the Stellantis Group alarmed many Opel employees.

Occasion: The group that emerged from the merger of the Peugeot parent company PSA with Fiat-Chrysler toyed with the idea of ​​spinning off the Eisenach and Rüsselsheim plants from Opel GmbH.

IG Metall and works councils have already warned against breaking up Opel.

They even tried to make comparisons with the fate of Hoechst AG, which was split up in 1999.

But now IG Metall reports: "The outsourcing of the Eisenach location planned by the management and the planned outsourcing of the Opel headquarters in Rüsselsheim to the Stellantis Group are off the table."

Thorsten Winter

Business editor and internet coordinator in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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After the dispute with Opel, the employee representatives of IG Metall and the works council agreed on an amendment to the existing collective bargaining regulations after difficult negotiations, as the union explains.

The Opel site in Eisenach will remain as an independent part of the company under the umbrella of Opel Automobile GmbH.

Opel in Eisenach resumes production

There was unrest there, especially in view of the closure of the plant until the end of the year. The Grandland X, which was previously manufactured there, is now being manufactured in Souchaux for the time being. As Opel announced on Friday, the product will start up again in the Thuringian plant in the first week of January. The global shortage of semiconductors remains a significant challenge for the entire industry. Thanks to flexible planning, however, production can start again. "It is planned that the entire volume of the compact SUV will be produced in Eisenach in the future."

Stellantis expected financial benefits from a spin-off through a more efficient and flexible production organization, as it was called in mid-October.

As a result, it will be easier to decide where which model will be built.

Stellantis points out that the Eisenach plant had been independent under General Motors for 23 years.

"Of course, the working conditions for all employees should remain unchanged, the existing collective bargaining agreements and works agreements should continue to apply," emphasized a spokesman for Stellantis at the time.

"The work of the workforce has had an effect"

The spin-off and break-up of Opel prevented and employment could be secured, said IG Metall district chief Jörg Köhlinger now about the new agreement.

"I hope that the management will steer the company more constructively and transparently in the future and that from now on Opel will only inspire employees and the public with innovative vehicles."

Uwe Baum, Chairman of the Opel General Works Council: "The plants in Rüsselsheim and Eisenach will remain in the Opel family - that is a great success." shown.

The chairwoman of the Hessen-SPD, Nancy Faser, says: “It is a success of the Opel works council, the IG Metall and the Opelaner that the break-up and outsourcing is off the table.

Rüsselsheim is the heart of Opel. "