Fiat workforce accepts tough conditions

The workforce at the Fiat plant in Pomigliano d'Arco near Naples has approved with 62 percent of the vote extensive changes to their employment contracts. The alternative would have been to close down the plant and transfer production to Poland. The liberal daily Corriere del Ticino talks of a historical change in relations between employers, trade unions and employees: "For the first time employees have turned against strict conditions in a bid to protect their jobs - and indirectly against those who didn't want the vote to take place [a number of trade union members]. ... As the daughter of a Marxist-Leninist culture the trade union had up to now followed the practice of dictating relations with employers, including strikes, above the heads of the employees because the latter were not in a position to recognise their own interests. But with the vote the employees have shown that they are very much aware of their own interests: by defending their jobs above supposed guarantees that ... in the end would have forced the employers to take radical decisions. ... This is not a defeat for the trade union but a victory for democracy."

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