Wildcat strike at Opel Antwerp

8 January 2008 – At Opel car manufacturers in Antwerp a wildcat strike broke out Tuesday morning. The workers of the morning shift refused to go back to work after their mid-morning break. According to the blue collar workers, their wages are not paid out correctly. Protest against irregularities in wage and payment has been a point of contention at Opel for the last three years.

Three years ago the wage administration of General Motors was moved from Antwerp to Barcelona, Spain.

According to the trade unions, since then, there have been several irregularities.
Some 3500 people work a Opel Antwerp. The personnel says it will only go back to work if the management promises to tackle the problem.

The assembly line fell still at 10:30 Tuesday morning.

The management has promised to address the issue. The afternoon shift is expected to resume work as normal.