Electrolux: Government steps in with all available measures; further meetings in September

The Electrolux dispute, which began in recent months with the announcement of 1,700 redundancies, the closure of several production lines and one factory, will require a further pause. However, as emerged at the Ministry of Economic Development (MIMIT) during the meeting with the Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, the technical meetings held over recent weeks between the company and the trade unions have enabled significant progress to be made. Not enough to reach a mutually agreed solution to the dispute, but certainly useful in steering it towards dialogue between the parties. The trade unions themselves acknowledge this, outlining the next steps. Michele De Palma and Barbara Tibaldi of Fiom speak of the need to ‘clarify the constraints guaranteeing the industrial and employment framework’. Ferdinando Uliano and Massimiliano Nobis of Fim are calling for ‘answers regarding production volumes and job security’. Vera Buonomo, Davide Sperti and Gianluca Ficco of Uilm stress the need for “extraordinary government intervention to change the industrial trajectory, not merely to mitigate the social repercussions”.

Following the meeting with the trade unions and the relevant authorities at the Mimit, it was decided to resume negotiations in September, with a new series of technical meetings “on the individual aspects of the dispute”, with a view to holding plenary talks in October. The first dates on the agenda are 3 and 4 September.

The latest meeting served to clear up a number of issues that cannot be cited as the reason behind the multinational’s decision. Minister Urso explained that ‘the technical discussions held over the last few days between the company and the trade unions have already made it clear that energy costs, whilst worthy of attention, have a limited impact and cannot be cited as the decisive cause of the crisis. What is therefore needed is a genuine industrial plan, based on safeguarding the plants, jobs and production volumes, but also on a concrete path towards improving efficiency and competitiveness’.

‘The Government is certainly prepared to “support this transition towards a shared solution, as we have done in other cases, by deploying all available national measures: from protecting workers through social safety nets, to supporting production volumes and providing investment incentives, such as the Innovation Agreements”’. However, the Government’s willingness to do so will be conditional upon a different plan being presented at the ministerial level in September. ‘Any public intervention,’ Urso clarified, ‘must form part of a serious and verifiable plan, with clear commitments from the company and the trade unions regarding production, employment and the future of the Italian plants. In this dispute too, the Government will play its part, provided that everyone fully assumes their responsibilities.”

The Electrolux dispute is taking place against a backdrop of a deep crisis in the household appliances sector in Europe. Over the last six years, as emerged yesterday at the Ministry of Economic Development, 25 household appliance factories have already closed in Europe. Therefore, ‘we must act immediately or we risk industrial collapse’. That is why we have drawn up and presented a non-paper on the sector, which has received the support of France, Germany and Poland, for the attention of Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné, whom I had already urged to take prompt action during the meetings I have had with him in recent months,” said Urso. The document proposes recognising the European household appliance industry as a strategic sector, a dedicated European plan for the sector, and measures to support investment, demand and production capacity. “I will present the document at the next Competitiveness Council, scheduled to take place in Brussels at the end of September, so that it may form the basis for European discussions and the Union may take action as soon as possible – said Urso – to safeguard production, investment and employment, by amending a regulatory framework that currently penalises our businesses and favours Asian competition, which is often unfair.”