Signed by Stellantis and the trade unions, with the exception of Fiom, the framework agreement which defines the methods of identification and economic treatments for workers interested in the termination of the employment relationship. The agreement concerns employees who are close to meeting the requirements for retirement or who intend to undertake new professional paths.
The objective of the agreement is to «define the reference framework for the agreements that will be implemented in the coming weeks in the various company entities aimed at adapting employment levels to changes in company processes by proposing shared solutions to workers». Stellantis reiterates “the centrality of Italy within its global activities” and cites the investments of several billion euros recently made in Italian activities for new products and production sites, including the Termoli Gigafactory and the Stla Medium and Stla platforms Large in Melfi and Cassino respectively. In Turin, in particular, with approximately 240 million in investments excluding those for manufacturing, the Battery Technology Center, the plant for the production of the electrified eDCT gearbox, the grEEn Campus and the SustainERA Circular Economy Hub as part of the Mirafiori plan Automotive Park 203.
The agreement «falls – explains the company – within the scope of the initiatives implemented by Stellantis to address the effects of the ongoing energy and technological transition process which is affecting the automotive sector in all its aspects (OEMs and suppliers throughout Europe), including employment ones, and is the natural continuation of previous agreements already signed by the company in recent years”. «The global automotive industry is changing rapidly and Italy – underlines Stellantis – has a crucial role to play through this epochal transformation. The energy transition has led us to think in a different way than in the past if we wanted to continue to be competitive and this has led us today to have to make the best use of capacity both in terms of assets and resources, minimizing the impacts linked to the transformation and guaranteeing a solid future.”
Stellantis’ refusal
The one who hasn’t signed is Fiom. Samuele Lodi, national secretary and head of the mobility sector, and Maurizio Oreggia, national automotive coordinator for Fiom-Cgil, specify this: «The action of emptying the Stellantis factories continues, – they comment – a bad signal if considering that these exits are not compensated by the hiring of young people, who would provide an important perspective for the future.”
Lodi and Oreggia point out that this is «another procedure of incentivized exodus precisely during the discussion with Mimit within the automotive table, strongly desired by Fiom-Cgil to address the issue of an entire sector which, in the difficulties determined by the transition to electric, is going through a profound crisis, in particular due to the strategic choices of Stellantis in our country, characterized by poor investments, uncertainties for the future of production, and a continuous reduction of the workforce through a huge use of resources economic, obtained directly from the workers, many of whom are on redundancy pay or are traveling hundreds of kilometres”.
Fiom recalls the 8-hour strike “of all trade unions” on 12 April in Turin “for the entire automotive sector, to demand the right to have an industrial future, work and dignity in work. In recent weeks we have jointly asked the Prime Minister to convene a meeting at Palazzo Chigi with the CEO of Stellantis Tavares. The future is not built with incentives for exodus, but rather with discussion to guarantee factories, new models, research and development and regeneration of employment.”
Cisl’s concern
«We appreciate President Cirio’s intention to meet with the unions in view of the ministerial meeting on Stellantis on April 3rd in Rome». Thus the general secretaries of CISL Turin and Piedmont, Domenico Lo Bianco and Luca Caretti after the announcement of the convocation of the national table on 3 April at Mimit. «There is strong concern for the future of the car in Turin and Piedmont, as demonstrated by the mobilization of all the trade unions for next April 12th under the Mole. Without immediate interventions and new production, the entire sector, which is a flagship of the Piedmontese economy, risks impoverishing itself and paying a high price on an employment and social level. As always, – conclude Lo Bianco and Caretti – the CISL will bring its contribution of ideas and proposals in comparison with the region and the government, with the aim of relaunching a sector which is experiencing a profound transformation due to the transitions underway” .