Electrolux, for Urso unacceptable plan. New meeting on 15 June

'Unacceptable plan'. This is how Adolfo Urso, Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, summarised to the managers of the Electrolux household appliance multinational the government's position on their plan that envisages 1,700 redundancies in our country, inviting them to come back on 15 June with a new plan. At the meeting at Mimit, attended by institutions and industrial associations, there was a tough tug-of-war between the Swedish multinational and the unions (Fiom, Fim and Uilm). The meeting took place while there was a strike in the plants and a garrison outside the ministry. Urso pointed out that 'unfair Asian competition is putting at risk an industrial chain that is essential for Europe, that of household appliances. On Thursday, in Brussels, I will bring the issue to the attention of the EU Competitiveness Council, starting with a discussion with the ministers of the countries still most involved in European production in the sector. There is no more time to lose: the Commission will listen to us, recognise this sector as strategic and, like the automotive sector, draw up a Plan for the sector, including the revision of the Cbam with the extension to these goods, reciprocity in standards and support instruments, including European ones for productive investments and demand'.

At the table on the one hand, Minister Urso explained to the managers that 'the plan presented by the company is inadmissible, unacceptable, both for the absence of adequate industrial prospects and for the impact it would have on employment. This is what I expressed right from the start, as soon as I heard what the company had announced to the unions. A position that I also reiterated last week, when I met with representatives of the regions, in order to reach a unified position of the institutions'. Urso also emphasised that 'the presence of Confindustria at the crisis tables is particularly significant and must become increasingly structural and continuous, because I believe that the participation of the industrial system is also important in a systemic work on crisis solutions. This is a path on which we are working together with the chairman Emanuele Orsini, in which we will obviously involve the regions and trade unions'.

On the other hand, the trade unions also asked the multinational to withdraw the plan of 1,700 redundancies in the Italian plants in order to be able to start discussing the reorganisation of work. The plan is not acceptable, the unions reiterated. Fiom secretary general Michele De Palma explained: 'We do not negotiate with a gun to our heads'. For the Fim-Cisl, Ferdinando Uliano spoke of the importance of 'building an alliance' with all those involved and maintaining compactness. For the Uilm, Rocco Palombella said that the discussion would open 'not on that plan but on a new plan that does not envisage either redundancies or closures, otherwise we have lost once again'. Ugl metalmeccanici, in a note, reiterates that 'no serious negotiations are possible as long as this plan remains standing'. In the background there is also the concern about the possible advance of Midea, the Chinese company that already has a joint venture and partnership with Electrolux, but limited to the American plants. The fear of the unions is that the restructuring and cutback plan is aimed at a change of control of the company. These are hypotheses on which the multinational company has made no comment, limiting itself to confirming the state of affairs.

The Electrolux management, however, explained to all those present that there are many criticalities in producing in Italia, where the household appliance sector is suffering not only because of the crisis of the average consumer, but also because of obvious production difficulties caused by the high costs of energy, labour, steel and components that reach "unsustainable" levels. In the slides presented by Electrolux at Mimit, it was highlighted that 12 plants of other household appliance companies in Europe have ceased operations since 2024 or are in the process of doing so: 'Despite our continuous efforts,' it was emphasised, 'the context is no longer sustainable under the current set-up. Steel in Europe is about 31% more expensive than in China and 27% more expensive than in Thailand. The hourly labour cost in Western Europe is EUR 37, compared to EUR 12 in Eastern Europe, EUR 9 in Turkey, and EUR 5 in Asia, thus up to almost eight times higher than in Asian competitors. The cost of energy is 204 euro per megawatt hour in Western Europe, compared to 114 in Asia and 77 in Turkey, so almost twice as much as in Asia and more than two and a half times as much as in Turkey. A gap that has been steadily growing over the years and that Electrolux has tried to bridge by focusing production on the high-end. This, however, is no longer enough and there does not seem to be any reason to go back on the 1,700 redundancy plan that has been announced.

The Electrolux plan envisages cutting 1,719 employees, including 994 blue-collar workers and 725 staff. The company, as explained yesterday, would retain four plants in Italia, namely Susegana in the province of Treviso, Porcia in the province of Pordenone, Solaro in the province of Milan and Forlì for the production of ovens, washing machines, built-in refrigerators and medium and high-end dishwashers. The fifth plant, the one in Cerreto d'Esi (Ancona) where hoods are produced, is destined for closure. According to the plan presented to Mimit, the company plans to reduce 310 workers in Susegana, 256 in Porcia, 106 in Solaro, 241 in Forlì and 81 in Cerreto d'Esi. As far as staff workers are concerned, the cuts relate to 392 positions in advanced research & product, 183 in central and local operations, and 150 in support functions.