6 October, 20112,200 employees in Termini Imerese and 900 Irisbus employees in Avellino risk losing their jobs if Fiat follows through with its decision to close the two plants in southern Italy.
ITALY: The IMF affiliates in Italy have demanded a suspension of the decision in order to launch proper negotiation on the future of all employees concerned.
The closure of the Termini Imerese plant, employing 2,200 workers, is scheduled for December 31. The decision to stop the production of buses for public transport in Avellino, in the company Irisbus, which affects 900 employees directly and indirectly, was taken without prior information and consultation of employee representatives.
The employees and their unions have used all possible protest actions to be heard by Fiat and the government and to negotiate with them about their future. They demand real solutions which guarantee their jobs and the industrial development in their regions. They have obtained no answer so far.
In both plants workers have stopped production. At Irisbus the employees
have been on strike since July 7. In the beginning of October they occupied their plant.
In Termini Imerese over a thousand workers took to the the streets on September 14 to demand certainty about the future of the plant and guarantees of employment. Representatives of FIM, FIOM and UILM spoke at the rally, demanding that employment levels are secured and appropriate social security measures are put in place while new job opportunities are created.
To explain the plans to close Irisbus Fiat refers to "a sharp decline in demand" for city buses in Italy and to a "lack of public funds".
The political left has criticised the plans, saying that Irisbus manufactures a product that Italy absolutely needs - its bus fleet is obsolete, two times older than the European average - to improve mobility and the livability of the cities.
The EMF has called on all its affiliated organisations to send solidarity messages and support letters to the affected workers and their unions.
Messages can be addressed to the employees via the Italian trade unions:
FIM-CISL, Bruno Vitali ([email protected])
FIOM-CGIL, Enzo Massini ([email protected])
UILM, Eros Panicali ([email protected])