Workers at the Bochum factory of German car maker Opel voted to return to work after paraylsing assembly lines for six days in protest at plans by Opel's parent, General Motors, to slash 12,000 jobs in Europe.

In a secret ballot of the plant's 9,600 workers, 6,400 people voted for a return to work and 1,700 voted against, Bochum's works council chief Dietmar Hahn said. Production, which has been halted since last Thursday, was set to resume this afternoon.