Industrial action at Fiat in Italy halts all production

Workers employed by Fiat at a car parts plant in southern Italy continued their strike this week. The strike organised by the FIOM-CGIL metalworkers union has resulted in the halting of all Fiat motor vehicle production.

The two-week action by employees at the Melfi plant in the Basilicata region is to demand better pay and shift patterns. During the course of the strike, workers have blockaded roads around the factory preventing parts from reaching other auto plants in Italy where most of Fiat’s cars are manufactured.

Fiat have condemned the strike and supported a court judgement declaring the blockade illegal.

On April 23, the company announced that it had lost production of 12,000 vehicles during the course of the strike and that shares had fallen by 1.3 percent to 6.08 euros. Latest figures indicate that 16,300 vehicles from planned production have been lost, with an ongoing loss rate of 4,000 vehicles a day.

Fiat said that the strike was extremely damaging to its business as it had cut down on stocks of components and completed vehicles as part of its recent restructuring. On April 26, the impact of the stoppage resulted in an Alfa Romeo car factory Pomigliano, near Naples suspending production. This follows a suspension in production of vehicles at Fiat plants in Turin and Termine Imerese. Another smaller vehicles plant at Val di Sangro has also suspended production.

On the same day riot police attacked striking pickets and their supporters at the Melfi plant, injuring nine people including seven of the protesters. One of those attacked by the police is reported to be in a serious condition and was among those injured taken to hospital. More than 1,000 workers and their supporters participated in the picket line attacked by the police. One worker involved in the protest said, "We’re not rioters. We’re asking the company to sign an agreement with workers from Melfi, but so far we’ve just met with a brick wall."

The FIOM-CGIL called for a four-hour nationwide strike to be held this week. Three other trade unions involved in the strike announced they had signed a preliminary agreement with Fiat on April 23 regarding shifts patterns at the plant. Further talks are scheduled for May.

Workers at the Termini Imerese factory had sent a contribution of 25,000 euros to support the struggle of the workers at Melfi. Further donations have arrived to support the Fiat workers from other engineering plants. Fiat announced at the beginning of this week that it would be holding talks led by chief executive officer Giuseppe Morchio, with all unions involved in the strike.