• Whirlpool dispute: Naples, workers block the motorway junction

  • Whirlpool, the company confirms: "Stop in Naples on October 31".

    Provenzano: "Unacceptable"

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30 October 2020 Whirlpool will cease production activities at the Naples plant from 1 November.

Even the latest attempt made by Prime Minister Conte with Marc Blitzer, CEO of Whirlpool Corporation, did not have any effect. 



"The Government cannot remain indifferent to this disengagement of the company. We will stand firm on this dispute. The government is willing to do anything, we are on your side, you cannot doubt this. Maximum guarantee that the government is on your side" . According to what is learned, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte during the meeting with Whirlpool workers at Palazzo Chigi. The meeting took place via video link between the prime minister and the unions on Whirlpool. Ministers Stefano Patuanelli and Peppe Provenzano were also present. For the unions, Fim Cisl, Fiom Cgil, Uil, Uilm, and Ugl.



Prime Minister Conte informed the unions that on Thursday he had, together with Minister Patuanelli, "a long conversation with the CEO of Whirlpool, Marc Bitzer". The company was made clear "that the government is fully available", but the CEO confirmed "that they are unable to create a perspective for this Naples plant that would make this production competitive".



Conte and Patuanelli reaffirmed all the tools offered to the multinational: incentives, 30% reduction, development contracts, Industry 4.0 funds, Sace guarantees, the fund for business crises - at least 10 million euros in equity, non-repayable -, tax benefits in the form of tax credit and aid from local authorities with measures to support the re-industrialization of the Campania Region.



Patuanelli: crisis table remains open


The Minister of Economic Development Stefano Patuanelli has guaranteed that the crisis table will remain open at the Mise and that, although it does not have the mandatory tools to prevent the company from disengaging, it


will be heard in all offices. Conte, however, pointed out that even if one wanted to move towards a legal dispute "this is not what guarantees business continuity". The premier insisted that the executive is at the side of the workers, inviting everyone to hold on: "Thank you all, come on!", Are the last words at the conclusion of the meeting. But reassurances were not enough for the unions.



Joint note CGIL CISL and UIL Naples


"Whirlpool confirms its decision. A wicked and unjustified choice that the government, despite the undoubted attention it has devoted to the matter, has not been able to prevent". Thus in a unitary note the general secretaries of Cgil Cisl Uil Napoli, Walter Schiavella, Gianpiero Tipaldi and Giovanni Sgambati. "What is more serious - say the three secretaries - is that, beyond the commitment reaffirmed by the government to build solutions together, there are currently no concrete prospects to make sense of that commitment".



Furlan: pressure must continue 


"Whirlpool is a symbolic dispute for the entire union. We were the ones who asked for the convening of this discussion table and we thank President Conte for calling today's meeting and for the sensitivity shown in this matter, above all to participate in this serious dispute by inviting it to make contact with this multinational. But the pressure of the government must continue at all levels, it is not possible to accept such a thing ". This was stated by the general secretary of the CISL Annamaria Furlan, speaking at the meeting between the government and trade unions on the closure of the Whirlpool site in Naples.



Landini: unacceptable abuse


"I ask the government to take a precise position on production continuity. We cannot limit ourselves to taking note of the company's decision. Production continuity is the goal we must set ourselves. The closure of Naples represents an abuse that does not we can accept. Our fight will continue to change the mind of the multinational. " This was stated by the general secretary of the CGIL, Maurizio Landini, regarding Whirpool's decision to confirm the closure of the Naples plant.



Bombardieri: respect the agreements


"Each of us must take on this problem: we are all together on the same side to claim production continuity and respect for the agreement, but we have different roles and responsibilities. And this weighs". declared the general secretary of UIL, Pierpaolo Bombardieri, speaking during the meeting between the government and the unions on Whirlpool.



He hopes: no to closing Naples to save other sites


"With the decision to leave Naples we are witnessing the abandonment of our country by the multinational. It is unacceptable that the CEO of Whirlpool declares that the Naples site is closed to safeguard other sites and that there are no margins to continue negotiations after the agreements signed ", says Antonio Spera, national secretary of Ugl Metalmeccanici.



Lights out in Naples


Initiative, in support of the Whirlpool workers in via Argine, commissioned by the mayor Luigi de Magistris and the councilor for work Monica Buonanno "If Whirlpool closes, Naples turns off": the lights of Palazzo San Giacomo will turn off tonight (seat of the Municipality), of the Maschio Angioino and of Piazza Municipio