Opel workers in Spain reach deal

Magna has reached an agreement with unions about planned job cuts at the Opel factory near Zaragoza in Spain, the industry minister has said. Miguel Sebastian said that Magna had agreed to reduce the number of jobs it will cut from 1,350 to 900. Unions had been planning four days of strikes in protest at plans by Magna, which is set to buy Opel from GM. Union representatives said that the strikes would not be called off until workers had ratified the agreement. They are due to vote on Friday. Mr Sebastian, the industry minister, welcomed the deal, saying "the future of the factory is guaranteed for 10 years". General Motors announced the sale of a majority stake in its European arm Opel to Canada's Magna and its partner, Russian state-owned lender Sberbank, last month. But the signing of the deal has been delayed by European Commission criticism of it. The Commission has suggested that the deal for aid from the German government may breach its competition rules.