The tragedy at Fiat

Finally, the Italian government, led by its incompetent ministers of industry and labour, has openly shown that Big Capital is the only sector of society that it wants to represent. 8,100 Fiat workers in all plants in Italy will not have a job to go to on Monday, December 9, and 2,400 of these workers will never get it back again. 5,700 will be on technical unemployment insurance without any guarantee to go back to work. The deal signed by Fiat and the Berlusconi government is the final act to the dismantling of the Italian auto industry. Instead of taking this opportunity to relaunch an extensive industrial project based on production of automobiles that would have benefited people in both the south and north of Italy, the government and the company have preferred to send positive signals to the shareholders by implementing a ruthless programme that will throw thousands of workers and their families into poverty. We shouldn't forget that Fiat, being a very important conglomerate, has dictated industrial policy in Italy. In the past, Fiat received enormous amounts of funds from the Italian government and from European regional funds to set up plants in the south of Italy. Now the funds are finished, which is why Fiat is no longer interested. For the first time ever, an agreement which concerns workers has been reached by a company and the government without the trade unions. The government's claim that trade unions were consulted is a lie. What happened was that Fiat and the government first reached an agreement as to how to use the funds from unemployment insurance and than submitted the same to the unions. All three unions together and in unison rejected the proposal and protested against the way this important issue has been dealt with. Today, December 6, when the workers at all Fiat plants are on strike, we at the IMF want to express our solidarity with the workers of Fiat and let them know that we support their struggle.