Impact on Chrysler as
Italian autoworkers strike over plant closings
By
Martha Grevatt
Published Jan 7, 2010 4:57 PM
In December a two-day strike halted production at the FIAT automobile assembly
plant in Termini Imerese, near Palermo, in Sicily. Workers were protesting
FIAT’s plans to shut down the plant, which employs 1,400 workers, this
year. As of Jan. 3 the Termini Imarese workers are on temporary layoff until
Jan. 7.
Prior to the two-day work stoppage, workers in Termini Imarese held a general
strike on Dec. 14 to protest the closing. Over 10,000 workers and youth
attended a rally that day, which also had the support of local clergy and
elected officials, according to the Federation of Italian Metalworkers (FIOM).
Earlier in the month FIOM struck the Sicilian LEA plant, which supplies the
FIAT plant and may also close.
Sicily has one of the highest unemployment rates in all of Europe; unemployment
there is much higher than on the Italian mainland. The island will take another
strong blow if FIAT and its suppliers cease production.
This strike completes a year of sporadic auto strikes by FIOM. FIAT workers in
Pomigliano d’Arco, near Naples, struck in solidarity with the Sicilian
workers and to protest extended layoffs and the possible closing of their
plant.
Italian autoworkers have a long history of militant class struggle, going back
to the factory occupations of 1919-1921 and the powerful movement of 1968-1969.
A two-month strike in 2002 halted the closing of the Termini Imarese plant at
that time. Nevertheless the Italian working class, like workers all over the
world, has been devastated by decades of capitalist restructuring.
On May 17, 15,000 workers demonstrated outside FIAT’s world headquarters
in Turin. At that time FIAT’s takeover of Chrysler was all but certain
and the company was trying to purchase General Motors’ European
operations. Workers came from all over Italy and Sicily to protest anticipated
job cuts.
The theme of the May protest, “We are FIAT,” was a direct challenge
to the capitalist media’s portrayal of FIAT CEO Sergio Marchionne —
who is now the CEO of Chrysler — as the person who singlehandedly
“turned the company around.” While FIAT was unsuccessful in
acquiring GM’s Opel, the latest “turnaround” plan — to
increase production by 50 percent while simultaneously closing plants and
cutting jobs — is obviously an attack on the workers. This is the purpose
of the $8 billion investment FIAT plans to make in its Italian operations. The
company will also begin building FIAT vehicles at Chrysler plants in Mexico,
Canada and possibly the U.S.
This is the same “turnaround” strategy — hailed in capitalist
circles — by which Ford has returned to making billions in profits. In
the past few years Ford has reduced its union workforce by over 50 percent. Now
Ford’s market share has increased in relation to GM and Chrysler and its
overall sales are improving. Its stock prices have nearly quintupled since the
beginning of the year. Yet the company just announced plans to offer another
round of buyouts designed to permanently shrink the workforce even more.
This is exactly what Marchionne hopes to achieve at Chrysler. While projecting
increased market share, Chrysler has not reversed plans to close plants in
Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. At the same time, the drive to intensify the
brutal restructuring is behind the latest managerial shakeup — the
departure of CEO Fritz Henderson, who had replaced Rick Wagoner earlier this
year — at GM.
Workers all over the world need to unite and militantly resist the attacks on
their jobs. This is the only “turnaround” strategy that has any
hope of success.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
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