Fiat faces a key meeting with the Italian government and unions this afternoon as a special task force set up to look to the future of Termini Imerese swings into action at a time when all sides appear to have moved further apart and developed entrenched positions in recent days. Fiat significantly raised the pressure by announcing a two-week Italy-wide factory shut down for the end of next month when around 30,000 workers will take advantage of the government’s temporary redundancy payment scheme.

The Italian government claimed yesterday that it hadn’t been told about Fiat's decision to halt production in advance while union leaders described the action ‘blackmail’. Last night the Minister for Economic Development Claudio Scajola repeated his earlier criticism of Fiat for having announced a lay-off "at such a difficult moment." He declared that "tomorrow [Friday] I will address this issue and in particular concerns for the Termini Imerese factory.”

Scajola however was less combinative in a radio interview this morning. "If there is no room for Termini Imerese in the reorganisation of Fiat, we are still insisting on it with the belief that it's still possible," he told local radio station Radio anch'io, reported the Wall Street Journal, adding: "If this is not possible, Fiat has to collaborate with us to find a solution for Termini Imerese that offers work and prospects for an industrial plan for Sicily."

Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne has been unmoved over widening protests against his decision to shut Termini Imerese and remains determined to shutter the Sicilian plant when production of the current-generation Lancia Ypsilon runs out next year. The smallest of Fiat’s six Italian plants it has 1,400 employees and its remote island location means that Fiat claims it loses money on each car it builds there. Escalating staff protests at Termini Imerese all this month, which has culminated in a week-long rooftop protest and the blockading of the main entrance with a truck, as well as the closer involvement of worker's families, has seen Fiat taking the decision to temporarily halt car production earlier this week.

Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal, quoting sources familiar with the matter, claims that four more expressions of interest have been received about the beleaguered plant on top of the interest shown by private equity fund Cape-Naxtis, run by a Sicilian investor, Simone Cimino, which wants to build the Indo-US Reva electric car at the factory for use by tourists on the island. In other news, unconfirmed reports in the Indian media claim that Tata Motors is interested in acquiring a Fiat Powertrain Technologies facility in Italy.