The controversial Embraco affair, which began at the end of last year, seems to have reached its epilogue: with an agreement signed yesterday at the Amma in Turin, the 417 employees of the Whirlpool group company and the plant itself will pass from next July 16 to Israeli-Chinese group Ventures srl. Change of destination of the Embraco company which will deal with the production of robots useful for cleaning photovoltaic panels and water purification systems.
“We are satisfied with the result obtained and confident in the success of the operation, also by virtue of the guarantees on the solidity of the company provided by the Mise. We have established continuous monitoring of the evolution of the initiative and above all we have obtained that the workers will not lose their wages or rights”, added Dario Basso, secretary of Uilm of Turin, and Vito Benevento, Embraco manager for Uilm.
Ventures srl will ask for extraordinary layoffs for restructuring and reorganization for 24 months. The workers will be gradually reabsorbed by 2020, maintaining the same contractual and salary conditions, while for employees who intend to sign the conciliation report, Embraco will pay the severance pay accrued in the company up to 2016 in addition to a gross economic bonus of 9.000 euros for layoffs accrued from July to December 2018.
“Finally, a month-long dispute that experienced dramatic peaks, such as when Embraco had started the collective dismissal procedure for all workers, is closed in a positive way. It is a success obtained thanks to the commitment of the workers who have never stopped fighting to save their jobs", commented Lino La Mendola, of the provincial secretary of Fiom-Cgil, and Ugo Bolognesi, manager of Embraco for Fiom -Cgil.
Even the former Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda intervened commenting on the story that had seen him fight in recent months: “I am very happy with the positive conclusion of the Embraco affair. The reindustrialization project that we negotiated together with the unions was formalized today. It is the demonstration that the effects of relocations are fought with concreteness and serious work, rather than with slogans. But – warns Calenda – we must continue to be vigilant until the end”.
