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Fiat
says it intends to move ahead with plans to boost
productivity at its Pomigliano plant after an ample
majority of workers voted in favor of changes to labour
practices there - reports the ANSA news agency.
Turnout for Tuesday's vote was 95% with 63% of
Pomigliano's employees voting in favor of the accord and
36% opposed and although this was outstanding by Italian
standards, CEO Sergio Marchionne is reported to be
unhappy with the high percentage who opposed his plan.
Marchionne made it clear from the start that without an
accord he would close Pomigliano, which he referred to
as 'plan B', and before the vote he was quoted as saying
that without an approval rating of 80% or more 'that
would remain an option. Going into Tuesday's vote all
unions except one, the left-wing Fiom, had agreed to
Fiat's proposals to boost productivity at the plant near
Naples and thus make it feasible to move the production
of Fiat's top-selling Panda city car there from Poland.
On Wednesday Fiat issued a statement to say it intended
to work with "the unions which assumed responsibility
for the accord in order to create the conditions
necessary to carry out future projects".
"We appreciate the approach of these unions and workers
who share our commitment and understood the importance
of the initiative Fiat Group Automobiles has assumed to
give a future to its plant in Pomigliano," the statement
said. However, the automaker added that it "recognises
the impossibility of finding common ground with those
who, with arguments which we view as just pretexts, seek
to block our plan for Pomigliano."
Observers noted that the Fiat statement was vague and
the term 'future projects' left open a number of
options, including the so-called 'plan C' which would
involve shutting Pomigliano down and then reopening it
as a new enterprise and hiring back only workers who
accepted its conditions. Fiat is is ready to invest 700
million euros in Pomigliano as part of the automaker's
overall 20 billion-euro five-year plan to boost annual
auto production in Italy from its current level of
650,00 cars to over one million. In order to do this
Fiat demanded concession from unions to boost
productivity at Pomigliano where last year its 5,133
workers produced 35,000 vehicles, working 15 shifts a
week, while in Poland some 6,000 workers in 18 weekly
shifts turned out 600,000 Pandas.
In its proposal, Fiat said Pomigliano would operate 24
hours a day, six days a week with 18 eight-hour shifts
which would allow the plant to produce 280,000 cars a
year. The accord also shortens work breaks while
increasing their number, moves meal breaks to the last
30 minutes of each shift, cracks down on absenteeism and
places limits on strike actions. Fiom claimed the accord
is unconstitutional because it infringes on workers'
right to strike and said it would not accept the outcome
of a vote it considers illegal. There were also fears
that the 'Pomigliano model' would be imposed on other
Fiat plants in Italy. These fears were based on
Marchionne's opinion that "flexibility is not something
that you apply at one plant and not at another. There
needs to be a standard accord for all factories."
Although the outcome fell short of the landslide Fiat
wanted, the unions which agreed to the plan called on
the automaker to respect its end of the bargain.
Speaking before Fiat issued its statement, the head of
Italy's second biggest union Cisl, Raffaele Bonanni,
warned: "Fiat better not fool around and move ahead with
its investments. Workers voted in favor of the accord
and so there are no excuses". After the statement
Bonanni said: "the great news today is that Fiat has
confirmed its investment in Pomigliano. This is a major
success. Let this be a lesson to all those who worked
against the accord, those who expected a disaster."
According to the leader of the UIL union, Luigi
Angeletti, "workers in Pomigliano understood and
accepted the logic behind our accord." Now it is up to
Fiat to confirm its validity by investing there in the
coming months. In regard to Fiat's disappointment over
the vote, Angeletti said, "if in Italy things could only
be done by unanimous consent, then nothing would ever
get done."
According to Labor Minister Maurizio Sacconi, Tuesday's
vote was not a defeat for Fiom but "a victory for
Pomigliano's future", he said. "The accord must now move
forward also involving those who did not sign it. I am
convinced that no one would want to sabotage the only
plan which would allow the investment needed to bring
the Panda here," the minister said. Fiom found reason to
celebrate from the fact there was no landslide and saw
this as a victory for defending workers rights. Union
leader Maurizio Landinon Wednesday called on Fiat to
reopen the negotiating table because "finding common
ground is better than imposing something by force. We
are ready to assume all our responsibilities, but
consent cannot be imposed". He also ruled out that his
union would in anyway seek to sabotage the Fiat plan
because "we try to reach agreements in the light of day.
If we don't like something, we strike. Other actions are
not part of our vocabulary nor the way we do things".
Report courtesy of
ANSA
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