Agreement protects employment in Electrolux-Zanussi's Italian plants

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An important initial agreement on guaranteeing employment levels in the Italian plants of the Electrolux-Zanussi group was concluded on 30 September 1997.

An important initial agreement to defend employment levels at the Italian plants of the Electrolux-Zanussi"white goods" group was signed on 30 September 1997 in Rome by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, management representatives and the sectoral trade unions, Fim-Cisl, Fiom-Cgil and Uilm-Uil. The deal was negotiated following the announcement by the Swedish-based Electrolux group of a worldwide reorganisation plan, which was discussed in the group's European Works Council.

The group presented figures showing a serious competitive deficit in some of its Italian plants, and thus proposed the transfer of these activities to other countries as a means of regaining competitiveness. The trade unions instead proposed joint restructuring measures in the companies concerned, with the aim of avoiding the transfer of production abroad and thus safeguarding employment levels in Italy.

The negotiations have so far led to an initial agreement. This provides for the closure of two electrical-goods production lines at the Comina plant in Pordenone, which has a workforce of 70 employees. The workers will be moved to other production lines, where the social partners have decided on a reorganisation of working hours, in order to guarantee maximum use of equipment and a reduction of costs. For the dishwasher sector of the Valleloncello plant, also in the province of Pordenone, which employs 110 workers, the social partners have agreed to increase the average productivity per capita by at least 10%, in order to avoid the closure of the plant, and to guarantee flexibility on hours when production need requires it. Similar initiatives will be adopted for the tumble-dryer production line in the Porcia plant (also in Pordenone), which employs 35 workers.

Following this first agreement, the trade unions and Electrolux have decided to continue negotiations over the position of all of the Italian companies in the group, in an effort to foster a significant improvement in productivity. This negotiation process should be completed by the 30 November 1997.

According to a joint press release issued on 1 October by Zanussi management and the national leaders of Fim-Cisl, Fiom-Cgil, Uilm-Uil, these first results, and the effort made by the company, have been made possible by the positive industrial relations climate following the signing in July 1997 of the agreements on the group's industrial relations and participation system (IT9708123N), and by the willingness of the company to reach a compromise solution.

Commenting on the agreement, the national secretary of Fim-Cisl, Ambrogio Brenna, pointed out that the negotiated solutions "allow for negative effects, such as those contained in the authoritarian decisions adopted by Renault in Belgium, to be avoided. The solutions reached give assurances to the workforce and give a positive influence to the general negotiations on guaranteeing to maintain and develop the productive and employment system in the group. The trade unions hope that it can contribute and increase the value of production which Electrolux-Zanussi achieves in Italy and will lead to the review of the company's production share throughout the world.".