EUROPE: Unions agreed to waive one-time payments, postpone a planned 2.7 per cent salary increase, and reduce Christmas and vacation bonuses by 50 per cent for two years in return for job security and the long-term prosperity of General Motors' European operations.

According to the agreement reached by unions representing the workforce and the company, the annual cost savings of 265 million euros ($328.4 million) shouldered by the workers will be managed by a trustee and have to be invested in the development of new models.

The agreement gives workers guarantees on investments, innovation, job security, co-management and amendment of the company's status. The worker's savings will be returned if GM reneges on agreements to invest in new models and electric-powered vehicles.

The restructure includes plans to close the Opel plant in Antwerp, Belgium, if GM doesn't find a buyer for the site by the end of September.

An outline of the changes was agreed on May 21 and management and unions signed the restructuring plan on May 31. Opel management and union leaders have been negotiating the restructuring plan for months in an effort to return Opel to profit by 2012.

Investments from GM and the concessions made by the workers will fund half of the cost of the restructuring. GM is requesting loan guarantees from Germany and other countries where it operates for the rest.

GM Europe owns plants in Belgium, Germany, the U.K., Spain, and Poland, and employs about 48,000 people in Europe, more than 24,000 are in Germany.