Fiat voids Italian labor contracts
In a letter released today, Fiat S.p.A. informed national and regional union leaders in Italy that the automaker will terminate all existing labor contracts, effective January 1, 2012, the same date Fiat will leave Confindustria, the Italian trade group.
In the letter, Giorgio Giva, head of Fiat Employee Relations, said the move was being made to harmonize labor agreements and make the company more competitive. The Italian press reports that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne wants all future labor agreements based on the contract approved by workers at the Pomigliano d’Arco plant earlier this year. Similar contracts have already been ratified at the Mirafiori and Grugliasco plants.
Leaders of FIOM, the militant metalworkers’ union that recently staged a one-day strike in Rome, have pledged to fight the automaker’s actions. FIOM was unsuccessful in an earlier legal challenge to one of the new accords.
