Stellantis, Termoli engine factory shut down for a year in solidarity

The volume crisis of the Stellantis car plants is accompanied by the saturation problems of engine factories such as Termoli, where trade unions and plant management have reached an agreement for a new solidarity contract that concerns all of the more than 1,800 employees in the pole.

With the expiry of the old solidarity contract lasting six months, and already extended for another six months, and with no new assignment, Termoli is forced to slow down for a long period, a whole year, a procedure that according to the unions is unprecedented. Worsening the situation is the total lack of prospects for the project of the future gigafactory initially assigned by ACC (a joint venture between Stellantis, Mercedes and Total Energy) to the Molise pole and then blocked.

The metalworking unions explain that the solidarity contract will last one year, from 1 September to 31 August 2026. "We recall that the solidarity contract is a defensive tool that, at this time, allows us to face a very difficult phase," underlines Francesco Guida, secretary of Uilm Molise, explaining that "the decision comes in a complicated context for the entire auto sector: the international market continues to mark negative data, from the United States come heavy reflections with the activation of tariffs by the Trump administration, the sales crisis does not stop and the ecological transition, unfortunately not governed, is hitting hard our Termoli site.

No one has the courage to say clearly what the future of this factory will be, the metalworkers' unions repeat. "There is a need for new products, real investments, and certainties for the future," they insist, at the same time demanding an immediate meeting with the new CEO Antonio Filosa, "because the workers of Termoli have the right to know which road Stellantis intends to take.