PSA willing to cooperate with Opel labor chiefs

PSA Group said it would adhere to labor agreements at General Motors' Opel and expressed its willingness to cooperate with labor chiefs to safeguard jobs, PSA and workers' representatives at Opel said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

PSA chief executive Carlos "Tavares communicated convincingly in the talks that he is interested in a sustainable development for Opel/Vauxhall as an independent company... Thus, we are ready to explore further the chances of a potential coming together," Wolfgang Schaefer-Klug, chairman of the Opel/Vauxhall European Works Council, said in the statement.

GM and PSA said last week they were in talks over a potential deal for the French carmaker to buy GM's European arm Opel, sparking concerns in Germany and Britain of job losses. Germany accounts for about half of Opel's 38,000 staff, while 4,500 are in Britain where Opel operates as Vauxhall.

(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Edward Taylor)