AFP - Unions at General Motors' Opel plant in Spain said negotiations with management on a restructuring plan for the factory collapsed late on Wednesday.

The central government in Madrid immediately called a meeting between the two sides for Thursday to try and reach a deal over the plant in Figueruelas, northern Spain, which employs 7,000 people.

The head of the plant's works council, Juan Jose Arceiz, said the management had rejected a union proposal for a two-year wage freeze.

He said the plant's four unions will meet on Thursday to consider what action to take.

Last November GM scrapped its plan to sell Opel, including the Figueruelas plant, to Canadian auto parts manufacturer Magna International and its partner, Russian state-owned lender Sberbank.

Spain's auto manufacturing sector is the third-biggest in Europe, although it has no national automaker besides Seat, which is owned by Germany's Volkswagen.

It is also a major automotive exporter, with 18 factories belonging to some of the world's biggest automakers.