Spanish Opel employees seal deal with Magna

Spanish Opel employees seal deal with MagnaZaragoza, Spain - Spanish employees of the struggling car maker Opel on Tuesday ratified an industrial plan agreed with the Canadian auto parts group Magna, which foresees cutting 900 jobs at the Opel factory near Zaragoza, trade union representatives said.

A committee representing the plant's employees called off four one-day work stoppages announced earlier as a protest against job cuts.

Unions and Magna last week agreed on an industrial plan which will only slash 900 jobs, instead of the initially planned 1,300 lay-offs, at the car factory in Figueruelas, which employs 7,500 people.

Employees' representatives also agreed to launch negotiations on the conditions of the lay-offs.

Magna hopes to take a majority stake in the car maker, which is expected to cut 10,500 jobs in Europe. However, the deal is pending a decision by General Motors as to whether it will actually sell Opel. (dpa)