The European divisions of General Motors are entangled in a large protest by workers today at plants in Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K.. Employees from the Opel, Vauxhall, and Saab divisions are lashing out against the possibility of layoffs and plant closures. According to union officials, 15,000 employees participated in a rally at an Opel factory in Frankfurt alone. The demonstrations were in response to restructuring plans for GM's operations that include 26,000 job cuts outside of the U.S. The firm has asked its European division to submit reorganization plans by March 31st. Some European nations have offered government aid to the automaker ? a possibility widely supported by labor unions seeking to save jobs and factories.
See "GM Europe Workers Rally as Opel Board Plans Meeting", Andreas Cremer and Chris Reiter, Bloomberg News, February 25, 2009