Opel labor leader says Fiat deal risks everything

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The senior labor leader of German carmaker Opel (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) warned that Fiat's (FIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) ambitious growth strategy was an all-or-nothing bet, rejecting the Italian rival's takeover concept for the GM Europe brand.

After a meeting on Monday with Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne, Opel works council chairman and supervisory board member Klaus Franz said his plans foresee the loss of some 9,000 to 10,000 jobs at their combined European operations.

Contrary to Marchionne's comments in public, Franz said on Tuesday the Fiat boss also told him that Opel's Kaiserslautern engine plant would have to be closed along with other Fiat/Opel manufacturing sites in England and Italy.

"The financing concept for me is absolutely not convincing. In my opinion he is risking everything," Franz added in an interview with Reuters.

"He wants to build a global carmaker financed with German and American taxpayer money."

Franz, a veteran labor leader who has become the public face of Opel, defends the interests of the 50,000 Opel workers across Europe and any deal would likely require his support.

Last week, Fiat agreed to take an initial 20 percent stake Chrysler for no cash and only offering the bankrupt U.S. carmaker payment in kind by sharing its small car technology.

German Economic Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg on Monday said that Fiat, which already has net industrial debt of 6.6 billion euros ($7.94 billion), had told Berlin that the deal required "bridge financing" of 5-7 billion euros -- roughly twice as much as Opel's 3.3 billion in requested state aid. link...