Stellantis Verrone, now the job is guaranteed. But Fiom: “Worried about the future”

“It looks like we should go on for a few years. But 2030 is around the corner. The question mark is: what to do from now to the date on which diesel vehicles can no longer be produced? “: Filippo Porcari, provincial secretary of Fiom Cgil, only half smiles at the news leaked from the meeting of recent days between Stellantis, representatives of the government and trade unions held in Rome. The Verrone factory, according to the plans of the top management of the multinational to which the former Fiat is also a part, would have a guaranteed near future: if in Pratola Serra, in the province of Avellino, the production of all Euro 7 diesel engines will be diverted to the group’s commercial fleet (Fiat, but also Peugeot, Citroen and Opel), gearboxes will continue to be assembled in the Biella area. At what pace? At least 300 thousand pieces a year according to company forecasts. But the news arrives in a plant that in these days lives with the layoffs. «And the staff – underlines Porcari – has just dropped below 500 units. They work in a huge factory, built in the 1970s for a much larger staff. And there are no prospects for the reintegration of personnel who leave for personal reasons ». If, in the face of retirements, there are no grafts, the representative of the CGIL wonders what the minimum threshold is to guarantee the functioning of the former Lancia: «It is a structure that has high costs. And the concern is also for the related industries: canteen, cleaning, surveillance, maintenance ». For this reason, the trade unionist had recently launched an appeal to the territory and its institutions to team up: «We are losing pieces of our manufacturing tradition one crumb at a time. In the case of Verrone, the numbers are very high. We would like more certainties not only immediately but also between now and 2030, when the transition to electric motors will be forced ».