Electrolux, Urso convoca il tavolo a inizio ottobre

Electrolux, the Swedish appliance manufacturer, is convening a meeting in early October, following a similar gathering with Beko earlier this month. The company's new plan has been deemed impractical by unions, with Massimiliano Nobis of Fim explaining that it does not address the structural interventions needed to support Italian production sites' future competitiveness.

Barbara Tibaldi of Fiom claims that the operation is focused on "dissolving" Italian factories by relocating production to other parts of the world. The minister of enterprises and made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, said his intention was to meet with the five governors of the territories where Electrolux has factories to coordinate with them on Italian government measures, as well as to discuss the measures requested by Europe, which will be on the agenda of the upcoming Competitiveness Council in Brussels on September 24th.

The reduction in profits from over 1,700 to 1,450 announced in the technical meetings at the beginning of September, as well as the increase in production from the initial 2.5 million pieces to 3 million, do not guarantee sustainable job horizons, especially now that several projects for moving production are underway. The most notable product relocation is the Marche site of Cerreto d'Esi, which will cease activities at the end of the year, with production of lids being transferred to a twin plant in Poland, but unions complain that "no reindustrialization plan has been proposed."

There are also sites in Susegana where refrigerators are produced: in this case, the multinational's plans include transferring part of the production, the one with lower added value to China, to third-party producers in Thailand. Porcia would lose part of its dishwasher production, a product that has been difficult to recognize in the European market and made less competitive by Italian production costs, leading to a decision to transfer part of the production to a twin site in Thailand.

There would be no major changes for Solaro, except for the involvement in the productivity improvement plan. The multinational has actually tied its reduction plan of 1,450 jobs and a total investment of 90 million euros to an organizational change aimed at increasing productivity, as well as aids to reduce energy costs and CBam.

Nobis notes that it is a "plan with many constraints and no real structural measure for renewal." Tibaldi adds that "at this point it is necessary to return to a political table with the multinational, since the technical meetings in which they had committed to presenting a new plan did not bring the hoped-for results and we have returned to square one."

After the meetings at the Forlì site, where cooktops are produced, Emilia Romagna's Labor Minister Giovanni Paglia said "the impression after the last technical meeting is that we have returned to the starting point and have not made any progress. The company has not changed its industrial plan: dropping profits from 1,719 to 1,450 does not change the substance of things.

We will never accept a small step layoff, which in the long run impoverishes the territory." At the Forlì site, the company has confirmed a total of 297 jobs, including 214 production workers and 83 staff members. This figure, interprets Paglia, "relates to the entire country and its industrial future: for this we ask the Government to take charge of a possible political solution, committing itself to building a strategic relationship between Italy and ownership.

It must be clear that for the institutions there is no alternative to reviving the industrial project, and only in this way can all support tools be introduced, in Italy and in Europe." In recent days, meetings with Urso's minister have highlighted the great attention of both unions and institutions to the outlook. The union and political unwillingness to let the spotlight shine on what is an enervating negotiation in the appliance sector, which is losing ground in Europe, especially due to the invasion of Chinese products, and which will be at the center of the union and political debate.

On October 1st, Urso called the Beko table, soon after the Electrolux one will arrive. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, September 15, there will be a strike by Electrolux workers at all sites, with a demonstration in Cerreto d'Esi, while on September 16, a delegation of workers will be received at the Pordenonelegge literary festival.