Automotive strike, metalworkers in the streets of Rome: 'Sector at risk, we need a recovery plan'

Day of united strike in the automotive sector and national demonstration in Rome. Fim-Cisl, Fiom-Cgil and Uilm-Uil are mobilising together under the slogan 'Let's change gear: let's accelerate towards a fairer future'. The metalworkers' unions took to the streets to defend employment and to relaunch the future of the car industry in Italy, starting with the Stelllantis sites. The strike started from the first shift. According to the organisers, participation was high: '20,000 people took to the streets'.

The procession in Rome moves from Piazza Barberini to Piazza del Popolo, where the general secretaries of the metalworkers' unions, Ferdinando Uliano, Michele De Palma and Rocco Palombella will speak from the stage. Also in the square will be the general secretaries of CGIL, CISL and UIL, Maurizio Landini, Luigi Sbarra and Pierpaolo Bombardieri. Delegations of European and world trade unions will be present at the demonstration, where thousands of workers from all over Italy are expected. Opposition leaders are also expected.

For the trade unions, 'Stellantis in Italy and in general the automotive industry in Europe are collapsing. Industrial and employment prospects are irreparably at risk" and for this reason, as the strike leaflet states, "answers are urgently needed from the EU, the government, Stellantis and the component companies". Fismic Confsal, Uglm and Quadri Association are also in several squares such as Turin, Bari, Potenza, Naples, Avellino, Cassino and Termoli.

The automotive sector 'is a strategic sector, but it is at risk. The prospects - from production levels to employment - are unclear, there is no industrial plan that defines a future. And we do not want to stand idly by. We need a relaunch of industrial policies. The government should convene the social partners, Stellantis and the component companies at Palazzo Chigi because there is a need for an overall strategic plan in Italy, and in Europe,' said CGIL secretary general Maurizio Landini. 'In Italy we are producing 300 thousand cars when we would have the production capacity for 1.5 million cars,' Landini remarked.