MILAN, April 14 (Reuters) – Automaker Fiat said on
Saturday a Turin court dismissed 21 appeals from labour union
Fiom-CGIL, marking a step forward for Fiat in a crusade by the
union that has highlighted the complexities of Italian labour
law.
The Turin labor court ruled that the union did not have a
right to factory representation after it refused to sign a
contract with Fiat last year.
The ruling is the latest twist in a long running battle
between Fiat and Italy’s largest metalworkers union over Fiat’s
decision to ask workers for more flexible conditions. Fiom-CGIL
opposed the plan, and therefore did not sign a new contract with
Fiat that incorporated the reforms.
Fiom-CGIL maintains however its members still have the right
to representation on the factory floor. To obtain it, Fiom-CGIL
has filed 61 appeals in 20 courts across Italy.
Of the five court rulings so far, some courts have ruled in
favour of Fiat, and some in favor of Fiom-CGIL – highlighting
the uncertainty facing companies in Italy in labour disputes.
On Friday, courts in Naples and Lecce handed down directly
opposite rulings. Previously, a court in Bologna ruled in
Fiom-CGIL’s favour, and a court in Milan in favour of Fiat.
Fiat said the Turin ruling confirmed that “labour rights are
applicable only to those who sign labour accords with
companies.”
Turin is Fiat’s home town and the site of its flagship
Mirafiori factory.
Fiom-CGIL’s Giorgio Airaudo, who is in charge of the Auto
sector for the union, said the union will appeal.
“We will appeal because, as Fiat itself says, different
judges have made different rulings,” he was quoted as saying by
ANSA newswire.
