Surprise announcement from Whirlpool. In the industrial plan for Italy finalized after the purchase of Indesit and presented today to the unions during a meeting at the Ministry of Economic Development, the US household appliance company has included 400 redundancies more than the 940 already envisaged, leading to 1.340 the total number of people destined to lose their jobs. The new layoffs – specifies the group – concern 250 employees in the factories and 150 in the research centres.
THE THREE PLANTS INVOLVED
Instead, Uilm wrote in a note that Whirpool "declared 1.350 redundancies in total, of which 1.200 in factories and 150 in research centres". The plan, according to Gianluca Ficco of Uilm, also provides for “the closure of the Caserta plant, where more than eight hundred people work (who have already been on layoffs and solidarity funds since December 2013, ed); the cessation of one of the two factories in Fabriano (in the province of Ancona), precisely that of Albacina, whose six hundred workers, according to the company project, should be transferred to the nearby Melano factory; and the decommissioning of the None site (Turin) where there are currently ninety employees between the warehouse and the research center”. The latter is the only confirmation with respect to the previous agreements.
THE POSITION OF THE GOVERNMENT
The Minister of Economic Development Federica Guidi and the undersecretary of the Ministry of Labor Teresa Bellanova expressed in a note the government's "strong opposition" to the aspects of Whirlpool's industrial plan "linked to the impact on employment inherent in various production sites, some of of the country already affected by phenomena of deindustrialization". Furthermore, the Executive "immediately asked the company to confirm the commitment not to proceed with unilateral dismissals", confirming "the commitment to seek every possible solution with the parties that would allow the negative aspects of the plan to be removed, starting from the heavy repercussions on the employment front".
THE REACTION OF THE TRADE UNIONS AND THE MARCHE REGION
The closure of the Caserta plant “is a wicked decision – commented Giovanni Sgambati, general secretary of Uilm Campania -, which denies what was announced in February. Our reaction to change the mind of the American multinational will be tough". The union immediately called the workers' strike with the blockade of the gatehouses. The president of the Marche Region, Gian Mario Spacca, instead said that "the Whirlpool plan must be changed and the commitments of the 2013 agreement must be respected. The closure of the Albacina plant is not acceptable".
THE WHIRPOOL LOCATION
For its part, Whirlpool has invited workers' representatives and trade union associations to a follow-up meeting on April 20th. The closure of the Caserta plant and the None research and development center "are part of the plan, together with the strengthening of the collection center in Cassinetta (Va) and the creation of the largest center in Europe for the production of hobs thanks to the `integration of the plants of Albacina (An) and Melano (An)”, explained the company.
Additional redundancies “compared to those existing at the time of the acquisition have been kept as low as possible. In this sense, an estimated 250 additional redundancies in factories and 150 in research and development". The guiding principle of the plan “is to minimize the impact on the people and communities involved”. Consequently, in the context of the implementation of the plan, Whirlpool "is willing to consider solutions that avoid unilateral mobility procedures until the end of 2018 in line with the spirit of the Italy Plan".
The plan also envisages 500 million euros of investment in processes, products and research and development in Italy over the next four years, which "largely exceed the 83 million euros made available by Indesit in 2013 and further strengthen the role central position that Italy covers for Whirlpool in the Emea region”, writes Whirlpool again.
Read also: "Indesit, 60,4% to Whirlpool for 758 million"
