There is still tension around STMicroelectronics, the Italian-French semiconductor giant. To power a climate already full of uncertainty it was an announcement that came by press, and not in the official context of the negotiating table. This is the element that triggered the harsh reaction of the unions, in particular of the Fim Cisl, after the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, declared that “the redundancies in Italy will be just over a thousand“. A sudden communication, which appeared in the media and which has took the trade unions by surprise, still waiting for a transparent comparison on the numbers and methods of the restructuring announced by STMicroelectronics.
“Why weren't they announced at the ministerial table the other day? In which site will they be declared, on Agrate, on Catania or on both?” he asks Maximilian Nobis, national secretary of FIM CISL. “Even one dismissal is worrying: a thousand become a social alarm".
Urso: “Surpluses balanced between Italy and France”
STMicroelectronics' plan includes 2.800 voluntary exits globally by 2027, “mainly in 2026 and 2027,” the company explains in an official note. It's about a reorganization linked to the transformation of production processes, increasingly oriented towards automation and advanced design, with an inevitable impact on the workforce employed in manual and repetitive roles.
According to Minister Urso, theItaly will be treated on an equal footing with France: “Those that will concern Italy will be equal to those that will concern France, because we asked for balance. I believe there will be just over a thousand". A reassurance that however appears insufficient for trade unions, who complain about the lack of transparency and details on the sites involved.
Investments are not enough to calm tensions
Stm's three-year investment plan includes an allocation of 6,5 billion euros in Europe, Of which 4 billion destined for Italy: 2,6 billion to the Catania hub and the rest to the plant of Agrate Brianza. This is not enough to reassure the social partners. While on the one hand the Government underlines the industrial commitment, on the other the unions fear that the redesign of the workforce could lead to deep cuts, especially in the more industrialized areas of the North.
Barbara Tibaldi, national secretary of Fiom-Cgil, is clear: "The cut in Italy could be particularly violent, especially in the North. In Agrate, where 2.500 people work, an entire department risks being razed to the ground". According to Tibaldi, while in the South they are focusing on new projects, in the North the initiatives are late and risk not being additional but simply substitutes, with a net loss of jobs.
The Future of the Workforce
STMicroelectronics has assured that the transition to the new production models will be “managed through voluntary measures, with a constant commitment to a constructive dialogue" with the unions. But at the moment, at the table with the Mimit, no information has been provided no specific details on how the 2.800 redundancies will be distributed across the company's global locations.
For the FIM, it is essential that "the institutional table returns to being the priority place to discuss the future of employment and industrial of STMicroelectronics”. Nobis reiterates that the objective must remain the growth in employment levels and strengthening the role of the company as a strategic player for the entire Italian manufacturing sector, without sacrificing local employment.
