• Whirlpool, the Ministry of workers: "Naples does not give up". Company: "No disengagement"
  • Whirlpool, the company: "No to the closure in Naples". Di Maio: go ahead with dialogue
  • Whirlpool, workers' garrison at the Mise. Di Maio to the company: solution in 7 days or stop public funds

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17 September 2019 At the table on the Whirlpool dispute that took place at the Mise, the CEO Luigi La Morgia announced that tomorrow the company will start the sale of the business branch for the Naples office. The only solution for the establishment is the identification of a new partner - continued La Morgia, explaining the unilateral decision - which was identified in Prs. A solution capable of "maintaining current employment levels".

Tension in front of the Mise
Moments of tension to protect workers under the headquarters of the Ministry of Economic Development. The workers do not want to accept the company's decision to proceed with the sale of the branch of the company and have verbally attacked the trade union delegation that was protected by the police. Then the situation came back under control and the union representatives are reporting what happened at the confrontation table.



Trade unions: towards the strike in all the establishments
Strike in all Whirlpool plants, from Varese to Naples, due to the unilateral decision of the company to sell the Neapolitan branch. This is the orientation of the unions after today's meeting at the Mise. "We will have to empty all the buildings already this week, or at least next Monday", is explained under the dicastery.

The company's decision
During today's meeting at the Ministry of Economic Development, Whirlpool EMEA informed the trade unions and institutions present of the decision to transfer the branch of business identified in the business complex of Naples to the company Passive Refrigeration Solutions SA (PRS), active in the field of production and sale of passive refrigeration systems.

Following careful evaluations, a note from the Company explains, shared during the ongoing discussion with the parties, which began last May, the transfer of the company branch is the only way to protect the maximum employment in Naples and offer a long-term sustainable future for the plant which, as an alternative, would have ceased all production activities. The operator identified to carry out the site's new mission is a leading company in the field of thermodynamics aimed at the conservation and intermodal transport of perishable products, which has developed a unique patent in the field of refrigerated containers. PRS has developed a reconversion project that identifies in the Naples plant a structure suitable for the production of passive refrigeration systems. The new mission will be able to maintain current employment levels.

"The drastic decline in demand for high-end washing machines internationally and the consequent decline in production led the Naples plant to operate below 30% of its production capacity - continues the note by Whirlpool Emea - thus determining a situation no longer sustainable for the company and its employees ". These conditions, "not foreseen or in any way foreseeable at the time of the signing of the Business Plan of October 25, 2018, are attributable in particular to a general macroeconomic crisis that has affected some of the most significant markets, including the United States of America, India, Argentina and the main ones in the EMEA area ", the company continues.

Despite the "huge investments made in the last 10 years for around 100 million euros and the commercial strategies implemented, from 2009 to today the site's production volumes have been reduced from around 700,000 to around 250,000 pieces a year with a drop in sales in the first half of 2019 equal to 36% at the level of international export and 19% in the EMEA area alone ". In recent months, Whirlpool Emea points out that it has carefully considered various solutions, including the possibility of new and additional investments. However, in light of an in-depth economic evaluation, none of these options was considered suitable for making the plant sustainable in the long term.