Italy: FIAT PLANT CLOSURES PROVOKE ANGER

Jakarta Forum - Turin, 27 Jan. - A plan by the car giant Fiat to close six Italian factories for two weeks in February has drawn criticism from the government and labour unions.

Fiat announced the move as Italy emerges from its worst economic slump in 60 years.

Fiat said late Tuesday it would close six car plants, including its main plant in the northern city of Turin, from 22 February until 7 March and 30,000 workers will be laid off.

Italian economic development minister Claudio Scajola criticised the company`s decision.

"The swiftness of the company`s decision announced from today, to take place at the end of the month, layoffs for everyone at Fiat plants seems to me an inappropriate decision," he told Sky TV news.

The Fiat announcement came just two days after Italy`s largest car maker announced an 800 million euro loss in 2009 in part because of the current recession.

Turin-based Fiat`s performance would have been worse if it not for government incentives which encouraged consumers to buy new vehicles.

Fiat told Adnkronos International (AKI) that the decision to shut down the Italian assembly lines was made after January and February orders fell below 2009 levels and government incentive programmes came to end.

"What`s the option, keep building cars that sit in a compound?," the spokesman told AKI. "This is a European industrywide problem. If we don`t have enough orders in the pipeline we`re not going to build the cars."

Labour minister Maurizio Sacconi also criticised the sudden decision which was made as the government prepares to hold talks with Fiat and trade unions about a controversial plan to shut the Termini Imerese plant is Sicily in 2011.

Trade unions have threatened to strike over the issue in February.

"It`s an insensitive decision that interrupts talks with labour. We hope this can be remedied soon," labour minister Maurizio Sacconi told Italian state television Rai 1 on Tuesday.

Italy emerged from recession in the third quarter last year but economists have cautioned that the country will experience a slow recovery this year.

At least one in ten Italians is out of work including temporarily laid off workers collecting unemployment benefits.

Raffaele Bonanni, head of one of Italy`s largest union bodies, CSIL, said the company is using its power to slash production as a bargaining chip in its talks with workers.

"Some people would call it blackmail," said Bonanni, whose organisation represents around 4.5 million workers across Italy.

Fiat chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne told reporters in January that the unions had to accept the fact that the crisis in the car industry had forced Fiat to make tough decisions to stay in business.

Fiat employs a total of 80,000 people in Italy. (u.b005)



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