BOCHUM, Germany (AFP) - Work resumed at the Bochum factory of German car maker Opel this afternoon after workers voted to return to their posts following six days of stoppages to protest plans by Opel's US parent, General Motors, to slash 12,000 jobs in Europe.
The assembly lines were switched back on at around 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) after about 6,400 employees voted for a return to work and about 1,700 voted against in a secret ballot of the Bochum factory's 9,600-strong workforce.
The head of the plant's works council, Dietmar Hahn, described the outcome of the vote as "wise one" that would pave the way for unions and employee representatives to start negotiations with management over GM's draconian restructuring plans.
Six days of work stoppages at Bochum had brought production at both Opel's main factory in Ruesselsheim near Frankfurt and a plant in Antwerp, Belgium to a standstill as supplies of key components made in Bochum dried up.
The Bochum factory also supplies parts to GM's Vauxhall factory in Ellesmere Port in Britain and to another Opel factory in Kaiserslautern, and both sites had looked set to shut down production on Wednesday afternoon as a result of similar bottlenecks.
Opel's management in Ruesselsheim promptly issued a statement welcoming the return to work.
"We would like to thank everyone for the decision reached today and look forward with confidence to working together with the employees' councils and the Bochum workforce," the statement said.
"Our joint aim is to make Bochum competitive both in western Europe and globally," it added.
The bosses in Ruesselsheim also lauded the way in which management and employee representatives in Bochum had handled the situation.
Unions, works council officials and politicians such as Economy Minister Wolfgang Clement had repeatedly urged workers to return to the assembly lines so as not to jeopardise vital restructuring talks with GM's management.
And there was an overwhelming feeling of relief at the outcome of the vote.
"We're happy that another step has been taken in the right direction," said Klaus Hemmerling, a member of GM Europe's works council, at a news conference.
A first step had been taken by management on Tuesday when it said it would seek a "joint solution" with employees to safeguard Opel's German manufacturing facilities, Hemmerling said.
"The way has now been opened up for further negotiations," he said.
But Hemmerling warned: "It's going to be a long haul, that much is clear. There'll be a lot of work to do to attain a really positive outcome at the end of it all, to safeguard the future of this plant, to avoid forced redundancies and to draw up a concept for 2010 and beyond. The most difficult part of our work now lies ahead of us."
The workers in Bochum have been out since last Thursday when GM unveiled plans to slash 12,000 jobs in Europe -- including 10,000 in Germany alone -- as part of a 500-million-euro (625-million-dollar) cost-cutting drive.
The Bochum factory has been at the centre of the wave of nationwide protests because it is seen as one of the main targets of GM's cost-cutting plans, with 4,000 jobs on the line there alone, and fears the plant could be shut down altogether.
In a wave of solidarity, the Bochum workers were joined by thousands of employees at other GM sites around Europe on Tuesday in a joint Europe-wide day of protest.
The powerful IG Metall labour union also welcomed the outcome of the vote on Wednesday.
The union had not officially be party to the strike, because Bochum workers had downed tools spontaneously last Thursday in response to GM's cost-cutting plans without an official ballot by unions.
IG Metall chief Juergen Peters described the outcome of the vote as "the right decision that opens the way for negotiations that are already going to be difficult enough as it is."
At the same time, employees had shown that they were not going to let themselves be pushed around.
"Management should know that," Peters said.