GM Europe Staff Plan Demo To Protect Opel,Saab,Vauxhall Jobs

FRANKFURT (AFP)--The works committee at General Motors Europe, the European unit of General Motors Corp. (GM), has called for demonstrations on Thursday to save jobs at GM's European automakers Opel, Saab and Vauxhall.

"Workers at Opel/Vauxhall and Saab need a secure and viable future for their companies," read a pamphlet posted on the Internet site of the German trade union IG Metall's chapter in the western German state of Hesse.

That is where the biggest Opel plant and a key research and development center are located.

The works committee slammed proposed plant closures and layoffs and called on European countries, car dealers and workers to save the companies.

U.S. parent General Motors, which is still threatened with bankruptcy, has announced a broad European restructuring plan that would eliminate thousands of jobs.

GM has also said it wants to get rid of Saab, which currently benefits from a Swedish court ruling that has helped it to avoid going under.

As for Opel, GM is mulling participations or partnerships with outside investors to keep the company going.

In each case, the U.S. group has appealed to public authorities in Europe for aid.

At the end of 2007, GM Europe employed more than 55,000 people, primarily in Belgium, the U.K., Germany, Poland, Spain, and Sweden.