FIAT - the final solution

A fine baptism for the new Monti government, and as had been widely forecast by any right-thinking person, FIAT has announced it is applying its new single contract - first introduced at the Pomigliano, Mirafiori and Grugliasco plants - in every part of its automobile sector (FIAT S.p.A.), to be shortly followed by its industrial sector (FIAT Industrial). [Italiano]

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FIAT - the final solution

A fine baptism for the new Monti government, and as had been widely forecast by any right-thinking person, FIAT has announced it is applying its new single contract - first introduced at the Pomigliano, Mirafiori and Grugliasco plants - in every part of its automobile sector (FIAT S.p.A.), to be shortly followed by its industrial sector (FIAT INDUSTRIAL).

This means that from 1st January 2012 FIAT's 80,000 employees will no longer be covered by the national bargaining agreement and everything agreed through collective bargaining with the company will no longer be valid.

There will now only be the one contract FIAT itself has written with the support of its trade union partners.

This is an enormous, radical change, an earthquake even, in the whole system of labour relations, and gives the company almost complete control over its workers.

Workers are now in effect without any form of defence, be it individually or collectively.

And while we await a wave of imitators from other industries, let us remember the key points of the single contract:

• 120 hours of non-contracted overtime;
• an extendion of the 18 shifts on the basis of the company's needs;
• breaks cut by 10 minutes;
• the introduction of World Class Manufacturing and the ERGO-UAS production system, procedures which are intended to "optimize" work, but which in effect mean the total subjection of workers to machines and to the productive cycle, implementation of Taylorism to the extent that it could be called hyper-Taylorism with an even greater increase of exploitation;
• during so-called absentee peaks, the company reserves the right not to pay its share of sickness pay;
• worker representation is entrusted to Company Union Representatives, nominated by the unions;
• unions and workers who violate the agreement will be sanctioned;
• unions that refuse to sign the agreement will be excluded from the company and its premises;
• cancellation of the national collective agreement will also mean that workers belonging to unions that have not signed the agreement will no longer be entitled to time off work for union duties or assemblies and that dues to their union will not be deducted or paid by the company.

SO it seems that the objective of crippling the FIOM has succeeded, an objective that was by no means secondary to the restructurization of FIAT that is in progress: throughout Europe, apart from the closures or reorganization of plants, we are witnessing the massive importing of the American model of labour relations, the Americanization of production relations based on corporativism and the idea that the company comes first.

The response to all this, which will be doubly difficult owing to the increased restrictions in operating and the every-present threat of job losses, can only depend on the support and commitment of the various forms of workers' action, organized and self-organized, beginning with the 8-hour strike proclaimed by the metalworkers' category.

Labour Commission

Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici

24 November 2011