Fiat’s main union FIOM has held talks today (1 September) in Rome with Serbian metalworker colleagues ahead of planned transfer of work to the Balkans.
The negotiations – that took place shortly before FIOM general secretary Maurizio Landini gave a press conference to outline FIOM’s autumn industrial relations position – centred on potential collaboration between the two unions.
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It appears the meeting was triggered by FIOM’s claims Fiat will transfer work from the Mirafiori plant to the Serbian factory of Zastava.
Fiat has previously said it would switch Multipla production to Serbia from Mirafiori.
Serbia’s position outside the European Union has also prompted FIOM to seek ways in which it can cooperate with its Balkan colleagues in the Samostalni labour organisation.
“This is why the Serbian metalworkers were with us today,” a FIOM spokesman in Rome told just-auto.
“We don’t want to have a quarrel between us – we don’t want to have a war between Italian and Serbian workers – we want to work together.”
FIOM says the Serbian plant was destroyed in the Yugoslav civil war, but that the government restored the site prior to working with Fiat.
