The Fiat 500 electric has stopped: it switches to single shift. The company has informed the unions of the production slowdown, to a single shift, from February 12th until March 30th, and rotation layoffs for 2,260 workers. The Mirafiori plant is at a standstill.
And it risks restarting only in the spring, if government incentives manage to get the electric car market back on track. The company explained to the workers’ representatives that the production slowdown is due to the electric car market crisis, which in Italy, and not only, is struggling to take off. However, the negotiation with the unions should lead to a soft landing, at least for the workers’ wallets, as rotation layoffs will be used.
Therefore: 50 – 60 thousand cars in total. A quarter of what the Turin plant should churn out to be sustainable. It will be seven consecutive weeks in which the workers will lose part of their already meager salary.
Furthermore, it is a devastating signal for the entire plant, also in light of the rumors about the possibility of a merger with Renault, which would further jeopardize the sustainability of the Italian production sites. The remaining workers (about 1,500) will be reassigned to other departments of the plant, mainly to the new hybrid gearbox (EDCT) and to the Circular Economy. We will continue to monitor the production, but there is concern for a plant that increasingly needs a new model to ensure its economic and production sustainability.
“The current request for layoff support at Mirafiori highlights the difficulties that, for some time now, as Fim-Cisl, we have been denouncing at the Mirafiori plant,” said Uliano. “The request for layoff support from February 12th to March 30th for about 2260 workers and the shift from two shifts to one shift highlight a very worrying situation. It comes directly to your inbox every day at 7 in the morning.