Opel Unions Trade Pay Freeze for Job Security

General Motors Co.'s Opel unit and the IG Metall union have reached a pact that will freeze wages through 2015 for the company's more than 20,000 hourly workers in Germany.

Opel withdrew a threat to shutter its assembly plant in Bochum at the end of next year. IG Metall accepted the company's original 2016 closing date.

The new agreement will allow Opel to enact the turnaround plan its board approved last June. GM has been urging the unit since early 2011 to accelerate its restructuring. The company lost $1.8 billion (€1.4 billion) in Europe last year.

In exchange for the union's concessions, Opel extended its job security pledge by two years to 2016. The unit will be able to offer voluntary severance to 700 employees in Bochum several years before the plant closes.

Opel agreed to shift some Bochum workers to a nearby parts distribution center. Others will get jobs when the assembly plant is converted to a logistics facility.

The company committed to producing the Insignia sedan and an unidentified second model at its main assembly plant in Russelsheim. Opel also promised to make its Corsa and Adam small cars at its factory in Eisenach.