Galbani cuts staff but redeploys and outplaces redundant workers
Published: 27 July 1997
In July 1997, an agreement was concluded at Galbani, part of the French-based Danone food sector group, which provides for the redeployment or outplacement of many of the 1,200 staff made redundant through the reorganisation of production and distribution.
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In July 1997, an agreement was concluded at Galbani, part of the French-based Danone food sector group, which provides for the redeployment or outplacement of many of the 1,200 staff made redundant through the reorganisation of production and distribution.
A new agreement, which effectively provides for company reorganisation without redundancies, was signed by the management of Galbani- part of the French-based Danone food sector group - and the foodworkers' sectoral trade union organisations, Flai-CGIL, Fat-CISL and Uila-UIL, on 3 July 1997. The reorganisation - which will also involve the closure of two plants in the region of Lombardia (at Bozzolo and Casalbuttano) - will affect about 1,200 of the group's 5,300 workers in Italy. Of these, some 600 are employed in production and 600 in distribution. For about half of these workers, who are approaching retirement age, traditional support and benefits will be made available (through the Wages Guarantee Fund and a "mobility" list). More interestingly, the other workers will be covered by the creation of a special Danone body, the Organisational Outplacement Centre (Centro Organizzativo Ricollocamento, Cor). Cor will be responsible for redeploying the workers within the group or "outplacing" them in other companies, and will also organise special training activities for all the workers involved in the redeployment and outplacement process in order to help develop their skills and qualifications .
Within a three-year period (1997-9), Cor must make at least one offer of work within the Danone group to every redundant worker or, alternatively, two proposals of work in other companies. If this is not done, a sum of ITL 60 million will have to be paid to every worker left without work as an "incentive to resign".
The reorganisation foresees investments of ITL 350 billion - ITL 230 billion in production and ITL 120 billion in the distribution network. Within the distribution network, 140 local warehouses will be closed and instead distribution will be conducted by a single main logistics centre. The direct sales network will be maintained, and the traditional sales staff will be retrained as sales representatives through vocational training initiatives.
The company emphasises that the reorganisation plan aims at "adapting the company structure to new market scenarios". The three main trade unions instead put the emphasis on the innovative character of the agreement. In a public declaration (reported in Il Sole 24 Ore) the general secretary of Fat-CISL, Uliano Stendardi, observed that the agreement "is not only directed at the 1,200 surplus workers but involves all 5,300 employees in a positive reorganisation of the company". In particular, in order to reduce the impact of redundancy, the reoganisation process will also take into consideration those workers nearing retirement age within the entire group and will encourage them to accept early retirement, replacing them with younger workers formerly employed in the warehouses and sites to be closed. Mr Stendardi stressed the importance of "the concrete economic commitment of the company to develop the Italian subsidiaries of the group" and the objectives of the social plan to ensure that "everyone is given an opportunity of having a new job".
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (1997), Galbani cuts staff but redeploys and outplaces redundant workers, article.
