Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has branded hardline Italian union FIOM’s decision not to sign its labour agreement as “nonsense.”
Speaking to just-auto at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit, the Fiat chief blasted FIOM’s stance not to ink the deal in the teeth of fellow-union acceptance of updated work practices.
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Four of Fiat’s five unions have signed up to the agreement – namely FIM, UILM, FISMIC and UGL as well as the Capi and Quadri white collar labour body. But the signature of its Italian colleagues provoked fury from FIOM, which denounced the deal as ‘worsening working conditions’ for its members.
The Fiat CEO vented his frustration at FIOM’s stance following the Italian automaker’s offer of a 5.2% pay rise, bonus and extra overtime working for its 86,000 employees.
In return for its package, Fiat has managed to secure acceptance from the majority of its labour representatives of the flexibility to work up to 120h more annually on Saturdays if market demands require more input, as well as thrice-daily break reductions of ten minutes.
“We have negotiated with the unions and FIOM refused to participate,” Marchionne told just-auto in Detroit. “It is nonsense – 50% of the votes went in favour.”
Despite the seeming intransigence of FIOM, Marchionne went out of his way to praise the other Italian unions in agreeing to the new arrangements, which he said required a “new approach.”
“Fiat also [reached] a historical contract with the Italian labour unions,” he said. “The key to the agreement was a common understanding that we collectively needed a new approach.”
Warming to his industrial relations theme, the Fiat boss equally hailed the four-year deal with the American UAW union as establishing a new path for labour negotiations.
“History has taught us the old adversarial relationship would lead us all on a path of irrelevance,” he said. “In our negotiations with the UAW, they were difficult but both sides realised they could not just repeat the mistakes of the past.
“Our industry is by definition cyclical and we can’t allow ourselves [to be] vulnerable. Our four-year remit with the UAW moves us towards this new path.”
