Electrolux: agreement at Mimit, 100 million investments and 902 exits

“We have achieved the objective: an agreement that protects workers and safeguards all factories Electrolux in Italy, with beyond 100 million euros of investments to guarantee long-term production prospects”. This was declared by the Minister of Business and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, announcing the achievement of an agreement on Electrolux’s new industrial plan, at the end of 30 hours of intense confrontation at Mimit with the company and the trade unions, which began yesterday and continued unabated throughout the night.

The agreement provides for over 100 million euros of investments and a production of approximately 3.2 million pieces per year at the end of the planconfirming the strategic role of the Italian factories. Compared to the 1,719 redundancies initially announced by the company, the new plan foresees a maximum of 902 outputs to be managed exclusively on a voluntary and incentivized basis, with the support of social safety nets.

On the production level, the product portfolio expands in Porcia, consolidating the production of washing machines and washer-dryers on both platforms. The investments and production prospects of the Susegana, Solaro and Forlì plants were also confirmed. For Cerreto d’Esi, production is expected to be maintained, with volumes in line with the current ones and with the average of recent years, until a reindustrialization solution is identified to protect the 149 workers.

The note from Mimit his Electrolux

The Ministry of Labor will be involved to identify the most appropriate social safety nets, supported by professional training and retraining courses. As stated in the Mimit note “The agreement is also the fruit of the battle waged by the Government in Europe to defend the household appliance sector”. With the non-paper supported by France, Germany, Poland, Spain and Slovakia, Italy asked for a European plan for the sector, to protect production from unfair competition and to support investments. The Commission’s willingness to act on these proposals has contributed to reopening the discussion with Electrolux on new bases and creating the conditions for the revision of the industrial plan.

“Defending jobs means creating the conditions for companies to continue producing and investing in Italy. This is what our Government did with Electrolux and this is what we ask of Europe for the entire sector: now the Commission’s commitments must be followed by concrete measures”, underlined Urso. “I am satisfied that the agreement with Electrolux has finally been closed. The mediation found after months of negotiations is very good because the transition from the expected redundancies to a significantly lower number of voluntary and incentivized exits has made it possible to avoid what would have been a real social disaster”, declared the Minister for Relations with Parliament, Luca Ciriani.

“After a long marathon of 30 hours, the signing of the agreement on the Electrolux dispute marks a significant step and is an important result for all the parties involved. The result arises from intense work and a common mediation effort, in which the Government is committed to encouraging dialogue between the parties. Our priority has been and remains the safeguarding of jobs and the production continuity of Italian factories. We are all working in this direction”, declared the Undersecretary of State with responsibility for business crises, Fausta Bergamot.