Unions are staking out a position against any kind of an alliance between Renault/Nissan and General Motors and the intercontinental opposition could be enough for Carlos Ghosn to drop the idea.
In North America , United Auto Workers president Ron Gettelfinger has expressed reservations about the proposed merger. Gettelfinger's Canadian counterpart, Buzz Hargrove, also has expressed concern about the potential impact of an alliance.
Unions in Europe, particularly in France, the home of Renault, and Germany, the home of GM's Adam Opel AG subsidiary, also have spoken out against the possible alliance.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of Japanese Auto Workers, while it hasn't taken a stand against the proposed alliance, is watching the situation carefully, according to members of a JAW delegation that toured North America last week. Isao Yoshida, the leader of JAW delegation, stressed that JAW indicated that the union's currently excellent relations with Nissan and Ghosn were one of the key reasons for holding off on any kind of criticism. Japanese unions don't criticize management unless key union interests, such as jobs and compensation, are directly threatened.
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