Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday said Fiat would have good reason to quit Italy if it failed to get auto unions to agree to a key productivity deal.
Reuters noted that workers at Fiat’s historic Mirafiori car factory vote this week on an agreement that exchanges more shifts and reduced benefits for commitments from the company to make new investments and build new models in Italy.
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Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne has said that the future of the company in Italy is at stake and he could move all production to lower-cost countries without a deal.
The accord is part of Marchionne’s wide-reaching plan to overhaul the group’s loss-making operations in Italy and bring productivity into line with cheaper and more efficient sites elsewhere.
“We think that what has been happening in this case is absolutely positive, with the possibility of an accord between the unions and the company, in the direction of greater flexibility,” Berlusconi told the news agency in Berlin after meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel.
“It’s obvious that if this didn’t happen, clearly the company and business people would have a good reason to move to other countries. Let us hope this has a positive outcome,” Berlusconi said.
