ROME, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The head of the hard-line Fiom metalworkers' union repeated calls on Sunday for a strike this month against productivity deals agreed upon by other unions at Fiat SpA's Italian auto plants.
Following a meeting with leaders of the CGIL union federation, the umbrella organisation of which Fiom is part, Maurizio Landini reiterated his union's opposition to the accords and said strike plans on Jan. 28 would go ahead.
'We will evaluate all suitable initiatives both at union level and legally to gain complete protection against this,' he told reporters at the CGIL headquarters in Rome. 'I would remind you that we have confirmed the strike on Jan. 28.'
Fiat has signed accords with moderate unions at its plants in Pomigliano, near Naples, and at Mirafiori in Turin to increase the number of shifts, cut benefits and limit the right to strike in exchange for investment commitments by the company.
Fiom has been at odds with other unions over the productivity deal, a key part of Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne's 'Fabbrica Italia' project, which he says is vital to the survival of the auto giant's money-losing Italian plants.
Workers are due to hold a referendum on the accord this week and Marchionne has said a 1 billion euro investment programme is at risk if the plan does not get enough support.
Marchionne also said last week that he would look to increase Fiat's 20 percent shareholding in U.S. automaker Chrysler and could aim for a majority stake this year.
The Fiat dispute has highlighted the battle to reform industrial practices in Italy and retain a national car industry and it has exposed deep rifts in the Italian labour movement.
Whatever the outcome of the vote, Fiom has said it will continue to oppose the accord, which it says is a threat to workers' rights.
'The alliance with Chrysler and the Fabbrica Italia project is the only and perhaps the last chance for the car industry in our country,' Giuseppe Farina, secretary general of the moderate FIM-CSIL union, said in a statement on Sunday.
In a sign of the hostility provoked by the dispute, a red five-pointed star, symbol of the 1970s leftist guerrilla group the Red Brigades, was reported to have been spray-painted on to the gates of the Fiat plant in Turin.
The sign was condemned as 'completely unaccaptable' by CGIL head Susanna Camusso.
'We consider anyone who uses these symbols and this reminder of terrorism in our country as violent and unable to use democratic arguments,' she told reporters.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie, editing by Maureen Bavdek) Keywords: FIAT UNION/ (Reuters Messaging james.mackenzie.reuters.com@reuters.net, Rome Newsroom +39 06 8522 4351; james.mackenzie@reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Following a meeting with leaders of the CGIL union federation, the umbrella organisation of which Fiom is part, Maurizio Landini reiterated his union's opposition to the accords and said strike plans on Jan. 28 would go ahead.
'We will evaluate all suitable initiatives both at union level and legally to gain complete protection against this,' he told reporters at the CGIL headquarters in Rome. 'I would remind you that we have confirmed the strike on Jan. 28.'
Fiat has signed accords with moderate unions at its plants in Pomigliano, near Naples, and at Mirafiori in Turin to increase the number of shifts, cut benefits and limit the right to strike in exchange for investment commitments by the company.
Fiom has been at odds with other unions over the productivity deal, a key part of Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne's 'Fabbrica Italia' project, which he says is vital to the survival of the auto giant's money-losing Italian plants.
Workers are due to hold a referendum on the accord this week and Marchionne has said a 1 billion euro investment programme is at risk if the plan does not get enough support.
Marchionne also said last week that he would look to increase Fiat's 20 percent shareholding in U.S. automaker Chrysler and could aim for a majority stake this year.
The Fiat dispute has highlighted the battle to reform industrial practices in Italy and retain a national car industry and it has exposed deep rifts in the Italian labour movement.
Whatever the outcome of the vote, Fiom has said it will continue to oppose the accord, which it says is a threat to workers' rights.
'The alliance with Chrysler and the Fabbrica Italia project is the only and perhaps the last chance for the car industry in our country,' Giuseppe Farina, secretary general of the moderate FIM-CSIL union, said in a statement on Sunday.
In a sign of the hostility provoked by the dispute, a red five-pointed star, symbol of the 1970s leftist guerrilla group the Red Brigades, was reported to have been spray-painted on to the gates of the Fiat plant in Turin.
The sign was condemned as 'completely unaccaptable' by CGIL head Susanna Camusso.
'We consider anyone who uses these symbols and this reminder of terrorism in our country as violent and unable to use democratic arguments,' she told reporters.
(Reporting by James Mackenzie, editing by Maureen Bavdek) Keywords: FIAT UNION/ (Reuters Messaging james.mackenzie.reuters.com@reuters.net, Rome Newsroom +39 06 8522 4351; james.mackenzie@reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.