Agreement signed at Goodyear

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On 5 April 2000, Italian trade unions and the management of the US-based multinational Goodyear signed an agreement aimed at addressing the employment problems created by the company's decision to close its plant at Cisterna (Latina). The plant will be used for different productive activities, and the costs of the agreement's measures will be supported by Goodyear.

The dispute over the decision by the US-based tyre manufacturing multinational Goodyear to close its plant located in Cisterna (Latina) (IT0001140N), which was opposed by Italy's main chemicals sector trade unions, has been resolved thanks to the intervention of the Minister of Labour, Cesare Salvi, and of the Latium regional government's labour councillor, Pietro Lucisano.

The dramatic dispute, during which the workers picketed the plant day and night for almost five months, ended on 5 April 2000 with the signature of an agreement between the national and territorial sectoral union organisations - Filcea-Cgil, Flerica-Cisl and Uilcem-Uil- and the management of the Goodyear SpA, assisted by the Latina employers' association and the Confindustria employers' confederation.

Goodyear refused to make any concession on the closure of the plant, and the unions thus concentrated on looking for solutions based on alternative production at the Cisterna site, capable of saving employment and relaunching the area's economy.

An initial agreement between the partners was signed during the night of 30 March 2000 at the Ministry of Industry. The agreement provides for the creation of a new company between owned by Itainvest, a state agency that deals with the employment problems of the southern regions, to reindustrialise the Cisterna area.

On 5 April 2000, at the Ministry of Labour, the parties discussed the employment situation of the 574 former workers of the Cisterna plant, and decided that all additional economic costs will be met by Goodyear. All the workers will come under the "special wage guarantee fund" (cassa integrazione guadagni straordinaria, Cigs) (IT9802319F) for a year starting from 31 March 2000. During this period all the workers will be placed on a "mobility scheme" and will also receive net monthly pay of ITL 2 million (EUR 1,033). The difference between the amount of money paid by the Cigs and the agreed monthly paid will be covered by Goodyear. Workers who reach retirement age during the period of coverage by Cigs or the mobility scheme will receive a "fair" allowance.

The agreement also provides also an outplacement plan. There will be incentives for workers who set up their own businesses, with the company being allowed to pay the end-of-service allowance (a part of workers' pay which is put aside and paid in a lump sum at the end of the employment relationship - IT9909346F) in advance to 8% of the workers, rather than the 4% provided for by law. Some workers will also be recruited in other companies located in the Latina area. The outplacement deal provides that:

• the Cisterna plant will be bought by other companies (negotiations are under way with two Italian entrepreneurs) which will commit themselves to employing 170 former Goodyear workers. Goodyear will pay an allowance of ITL 11 million (EUR 5,681) each to these workers;

• 30 workers will remain with Goodyear in its European and Italian offices. These workers may have a lower job classification than before but will receive the same pay as before the closure of Cisterna; and

• about 100 workers will be hired on open-ended contract by a local temporary work agency. During periods of inactivity, the agency will pay the workers an allowance, the amount of which will be negotiated with the social partners. These workers will receive also an incentive from Goodyear equivalent to ITL 11 million (EUR 5,681) each. A further 25 workers will be outplaced in other companies in the area;

All the workers not included in the early retirement programme or in the outplacement programme who decide to resign on a voluntary basis will receive an "age-related incentive": ITL 60 million (EUR 30,987) for those aged under 40 years; ITL 68 million (EUR 35,119) for those aged between 40 and 50, and ITL 63 million (EUR 32,537) for those over 50.

Sergio Gigli, the national secretary of Flerica, said that he was certain that "everything possible has been done to save jobs even if we did not succeed in winning the fight to maintain Goodyear productive activities." He also believed that the whole situation obliges the trade unions to "create European market rules and labour protection rules capable of managing the impact of globalisation".

Cgil, Cisl and Uil are satisfied with the agreement, stating that: "only the intelligent reaction of the workers' organisations was able to avoid a dramatic situation. The most difficult aspects of the whole event start now: the implementation of the employment solutions provided for by the agreement."