Workers at Belgian General Motors plant protest layoff plans with work stoppage
BRUSSELS, Belgium: Workers at the General Motors plant in Antwerp on Wednesday shut down the production line to protest plans to phase out production of the Astra model in Belgium and lay off 1,400 people.
The labor action was expected to last until Wednesday afternoon and was started immediately after Tuesday's announcement in Germany that Belgium would not make General Motors' new Astra compact model after 2010.
The company said there were no plans at the moment to shut the factory, which currently employs 5,100 people. The phase-out would result in the layoff of 1,400 people. The company said it would look at options to produce other models to keep the Antwerp plant going afterward.
The Belgian national and regional governments said in a joint statement they were disappointed about the decision, noting the "numerous efforts made in recent years to make this (Antwerp) site one of the better performing ones in Europe."
The labor action was expected to last until Wednesday afternoon and was started immediately after Tuesday's announcement in Germany that Belgium would not make General Motors' new Astra compact model after 2010.
The company said there were no plans at the moment to shut the factory, which currently employs 5,100 people. The phase-out would result in the layoff of 1,400 people. The company said it would look at options to produce other models to keep the Antwerp plant going afterward.
The Belgian national and regional governments said in a joint statement they were disappointed about the decision, noting the "numerous efforts made in recent years to make this (Antwerp) site one of the better performing ones in Europe."
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