The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Manufacturing Manufacture For Transport Equipment Manufacture Of Motor Vehicles, Trailers And Semi-Trailers 29.3 - Manufacture of parts and accessories for motor vehicles
200 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
13 April 2006
Employment effect (start)
8 May 2006
Foreseen end date
Description
Eaton Corporation is a global leader in electrical systems for safety and fuel economy and automotive engine air management systems. On 13 April the company announced to the trade unions the complete termination of production at the Rivarolo factory and the consequent loss of 200 jobs. The company has taken this decision in response to the crisis of the automotive market and has started the "mobility" procedures (i.e. the collective dismissal procedure), which will lead to the dismissal of the 200 blue-collar workers at the end of May. The company should maintain in Rivarolo the administrative and R&D units with their 120 white-collar workers. The trade union representatives at the Rivarolo plant reacted to the decision by going out on strike for an indefinite period and blockading the factory gates. The workers' protest action is supported by the local authorities and the residents of the small town and, during this first week of dispute, the sit-ins at the factory gates have blocked the white-collar workers who made some attempts to go to work. The trade unions aim to involve local and national organisations and institutions directly in the dispute, in order to find ways to avoid the redundancies envisaged by the restructuring plan and to obtain information on Eatons industrial strategies with regard to all its Italian plants. Eaton has 59,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 125 countries. In Italy, Eaton has around 1,500 employees distributed in 5 plants: Eaton srl in Pessano con Bornago (MI); Massa It Loc in Tuscany; Monfalcone in Friuli Venezia Giulia; Bosconero and Rivarolo in the province of Turin (Piedmont). The Bosconero and Rivarolo plants belong to the Eaton's automotive segment; they are specialised in the production of engine valves and have around 620 employees (320 in the Rivarolo plant and around 300 in the Bosconero plant). At the Rivarolo plant are Eaton's European headquarters. After over 100 days of negotiations, on 19 July, the company, the trade unions and the representatives of the Rivarolo municipality and the Piedmont Region reached an agreement on the company's reorganisation plan. Under this agreement, the Eaton group will stop the collective dismissal procedures: the 161 workers initially involved will benefit of the "special" Wages Guarantee Fund (Cassa integrazione guadagni straordinaria, CIGS), a "social shock absorber" that intervenes in cases of restructuring, reorganisation, change of activity or economic difficulties. The Wages Guarantee Fund scheme will start from November 2006, covering the two-year period 2006-2008. At the end of the period of the CIGS's scheme, the workers involved in the reorganisation plan will have the opportunity to move to other units belonging to the Eaton group or to different companies (in both cases, the plants are located in the province of Turin). Moreover, the agreement envisages a new investment plan in research and development in the production of technologically advanced engine valves.
Sources
14 April 2006: La Stampa
18 April 2006: La Stampa
20 April 2006: La Stampa
21 April 2006: La Stampa
Citation
Eurofound (2006), Eaton Rivarolo, Relocation in Italy, factsheet number 63380, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/63380.
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