Just over 500 meters away from the Maserati factory in Grugliasco, which made headlines because it was listed for sale on Immobiliare.it, there is another company that risks paying heavily for the departure of Stellantis in Turin. This is Lear, which produces Maserati’s seats and interiors.
Workers are uneasy as the company announced cuts and did not rule out the possibility of a shutdown. PD MP Chiara Gribaudo, chair of the parliament’s commission to investigate working conditions in Italy, explains to Today: “The reasons for its dismantling are at least two: on the one hand, the end of the production of endothermic engines, and on the other hand, the end of the production of endothermic engines. The other is to become the so-called “luxury centre” But paradoxically, other Lear factories in Lombardy, they tell us, are now hiring temporary workers because they have more production and more orders. “What we asked at the crisis table convened by the Italian Ministry of Mines at the time is why the company refuses to move part of its production to Grugliasco.”
What are the expectations of Lear employees today?
“Currently the company has announced that it will close partially or even completely. If partial liquidation is chosen, we are talking about at least 300 people. Today, about 400 units work at the plant, a hundred or even less may remain. The rest are all. There is a good percentage of women working at home, especially the finishing touches “And the average age is around fifty. Most of them have done nothing else and wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else. There are only about twenty people who can be replaced.”
Did the Democratic Party and other opposition forces participate in the demonstrations, and were there positive signals from companies and institutions?
“We have positioned ourselves on the side of the workers and ensured that interest remains high for now. In parliament today I asked Minister Urso to come and report on the dispute and more generally on what he plans to do to ensure the future of the sector of the Italian automotive industry. Workers and unions have included the municipality and the region “There were discussions that yielded essentially no results. Therefore, it was decided to establish a permanent garrison.”
What specifically do you want to achieve?
“In the meantime, it is an extension of the social safety net that will allow jobs to be saved while we wait for a new industrial plan or production changes. This could include Stellantis, on which Lear’s future depends.
The region and the government need to demand the industrial plan by force, because justified suspicions are that the plan was abandoned not because of unemployment, but because they wanted to go and produce somewhere else outside Italy. “Minister Adolfo Urso, who is part of the ‘Patriots’ government and minister of Made in Italy, would have had the duty to protect the workers of this country, but neither he nor the Piedmont region participated in the measures.”
But now he will have to address this, the picture is no longer regional but national.
“Exactly. The district has shown itself completely incapable of managing a complex crisis situation. The competent councilor spoke nice words yesterday, but now let’s move from words to reality and give workers the tools that will allow them to accompany the redundancy fund and therefore many of them will even have to take a pay cut in December prevent him/her from stopping taking it”.
It is impressive to see the factories that produce Maserati, one of Italy’s greatest excellences, risking their jobs in the sale of real estate and the hundreds of employees involved.
“Stellantis’s interest in our country, especially in Piedmont, is gradually decreasing. Today he presented the circular economy center, but we are talking about a truly minimal commitment, both in terms of employment and economic impact, as well as the return of resources, and as it is known, he has given a lot to Italy “Hopes for the city of Turin”.
Is Italy a country in decline?
“We are a country that leaves to fate all the basic assets on which we built our economic power, from Ilva to the old Fiat to Tim. We are losing that economic backbone of education and skills. And at the same time, we are losing young workers who cannot have a market in the field, who have social security to reach retirement.” “We are no longer abandoning workers who will not be available. We are and will be with them. Minister Urso comes to Parliament and we tell us where the millions of new vehicles that need to be produced are going, tell us what happened to the wonderful promises you made for the summer”.
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Source: Today IT
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
