Anger As GM Moves To Slash 10,000 Jobs

General Motors has announced plans to slash around 10,000 jobs across Europe as it restructures Vauxhall and Opel.

The company has so far given no details about how the cuts would relate to individual countries or plants.

All vice president John Smith would say was: "Our plans envisaged a headcount reduction of roughly 10,000 people."

The announcement comes after GM's dramatic U-turn where it revealed it would not sell Vauxhall and Opel to Canadian car-parts firm Magna.

Although the news was greeted with cautious optimism by unions in the UK, German workers have voted for strike action and will start walkouts on Thursday.

Germany had backed the sale of Opel, which employs around 25,000 workers in the country.

And now the country's government is demanding GM repay a 1.5bn euro (£1.34bn) loan.

Vauxhall employs around 5,500 members of staff at its Ellesmere Port and Luton plants in the UK.

Reacting to the planned job cuts Tony Woodley, joint secretary of the Unite union said: "Inevitably some will go in the UK, but our task is to minimise the number of jobs lost and ensure that those who do go, go voluntarily.

"It is right that GM should hold onto its UK plants because this country is one of its strongest and most loyal customers."

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has already said he is keen to meet GM representatives "as soon as possible".