General Motors officially announced it would close its Antwerp, Belgium Opel plant earlier this week, with many of the German automaker’s employees speaking out against the decision on Friday. GM plans to eliminate about 8,300 European jobs.
Many Opel employees spoke out on the decision on Friday, including Armin Schild, a member of Opel’s board. Schild slammed GM for its mismanagement of the Opel brand over the last 15 years, and even went as far as to call the plant closing “a declaration of warâ€.
“Now, GM is apparently off on the next horror trip,” Schild told the DAPD news agency.
GM will shutter the Antwerp factory by the end of 2010, eliminating 2,600 jobs. About 4,000 GM jobs will be lost in Germany, with a total of 8,300 positions to be shed during Opel’s restructuring.
GM decided to cancel the sale of the ailing German car maker last year, cutting off any hope for a government bailout.
