Germany: IG-Metall management accepts ‘rescue’ agreement without Bochum plant

Unanimous agreement from the IG-Metall’s management. In North Rhine-Westphalia, where Bochum is located, the IG-Metall union has hardly ever seemed so deeply divided. Indeed, whereas the 3,300 workers at Opel’s Bochum plant clearly rejected the agreement negotiated with the company’s management in February (see our dispatches No. 130145 and 130194), we heard yesterday afternoon that the union’s federal management had unanimously accepted the agreement, taking account of the votes of the workers at the Rüsselsheim, Kaiserslautern and Eisenach plants. Wolfgang Schäfer-Klug, leader of Opel’s central WC, doesn’t understand Bochum’s refusal. “We were unable to offer a similar alternative in Luton, UK, Azambuja, Portugal, or Antwerp, Belgium. Rainer Einenkel, leader of Bochum’s WC, and his media interventions and conspiracy theories, torpedoed this agreement” he explained, blaming Einenkel for everything. IG-Metall leader Bertold Huber said that this agreement was “the best possible solution given the circumstances.” He deplored Bochum’s rejection but didn’t criticize Einenkel.