Furloughed Italian Fiat workers are struggling to pay their mortgage

Stellantis places about 2,400 Fiat workers at its main plant in Turin is on leave with a pay cut last September when it reduced production of the Fiat 500 electric city car and two Maserati sports cars.

In February, the automaker said employees at the Mirafiori plant would reduce their work hours, operating a single shift instead of a double shift.

Furloughed workers earn around 1,100 euros per month after tax, compared with 1,600 euros when they are fully employed. A representative for Fiat’s FIM Cisl union said the shortage is starting to impact the finances of the manufacturer’s older workforce.

“We have been through bad times,” said FIM representative Cisl Davide Manago speak Reuters.

Manago said that Furlough’s salary is often “not enough to pay the mortgage and going to the bank to borrow money to make ends meet is not easy.” “My fear is coming back to that.”

The Miafiori plant is one of the oldest in Europe, but it lost its significance as popular cars were produced elsewhere in Italy. The CIFM union said the company’s employees have an average age of 57 to 58 and that younger workers will not come to replace them.

In June, Fiat CEO and Stellantis global CMO Olivier François visited Mirafiori factory aims to reassure workers about their future at the company. The new Fiat 500 Ibrida is expected to be produced at the factory in 2025 and 2026.

In February, Stellantis discussed the possibility of Chinese Leapmotor cars destined for Europe being produced at its Mirafiori factory as a way for its Chinese partner to avoid huge import tariffs imposed by the European Commission. imposed by the European Commission.

Stellantis bought a 21% stake in Leapmotor last October, making it one of several European carmakers to enter into alliances with Chinese suppliers amid fears they could be wiped out. driven by the low prices of competitors.

The plight of Fiat workers in Turin is a warning to the rest of the European auto market where workers are employed. nearly 14 million people.

German giant Volkswagen is trying to weaken the resolve of its powerful works council as it seeks to save 10 billion euros in costs. The automaker ended a 30-year labor agreement to ensure jobs and floated the idea of ​​closing a factory in Germany for the first time in its history.

Stellantis’s Italian Battle

Stellantis, formed in 2021 through a merger between Italian-American Fiat Chrysler and France’s Peugeot-Citroen, faced off against the Italian government last year amid debates over the origins of its this country’s car.

In April, Stellantis subsidiary Alfa Romeo was forced to change name their Milano model until the Junior after the government objected to giving an Italian-sounding name to a car made in Poland.

The following month, Italian financial police confiscated dozens Fiat Topolinos for once again allegedly violating the country’s “Made in Italy” law.

In October, Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini said outgoing CEO Carlos Tavares “should be ashamed and apologize” for “mismanagement of a historic Italian company.”

Salvini said he was launching a “Truth Campaign” against Stellantis, demanding to know “how much public money the group has collected over the years, how many Italian workers have been fired or suspended and how many Many factories have been opened abroad.”

Stellantis has sought to reassure the increasingly hostile Italian government that it is committed to building the country.

“The new 500 Ibrida, which has an Italian name, will be developed and designed in Turin and proudly manufactured in Mirafiori. It is clear that Mirafiori plays a strategic role for the brand and we are also continuing to invest in Italy, 500 and Mirafiori,” Fiat CEO François said in May, possibly as part of the offensive. Seduction work follows previous rhetoric by the Italian government.