Germans impatient with GM on Opel fate

BERLIN, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Delays by U.S. automaker General Motors in deciding the fate of its European subsidiary Opel are unacceptable, a German labor leader says.

Klaus Franz, head of Opel's autoworker unions, said workers have kept quiet about their frustrations with GM's indecision on whether to sell or keep the German automaker, but the time has come for a decision, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported Monday.

"We've completely run out of patience," Franz said. "In the past we stayed very calm and confined ourselves to listening to what the negotiating partners had to tell us. But that's over now."

GM was supposed to have made a decision on Opel by Friday, but the company said that decision has been delayed. Armin Schild of Germany's metalworkers union told DW he believes GM has serious doubts about selling Opel Europe, but still needs to because it doesn't have the resources to build environmentally sound cars there.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the U.S. administration Monday to pressure GM into making a decision, the broadcaster said.