Whirlpool lay off 600 people in Varese Province

According to the two-year reorganisation plan, Whirlpool has decided to dismiss one thousand employees throughout Italy, six hundred of whom will be in Varese Province (500 manual workers and 100 office staff). In short, the multinational is closing down the “side by side” production completely in Cassinetta (350 manual workers will be laid off in the refrigerator sector). In an official note, the company explained, “The reorganisation is necessary because of the fall in demand of the market, which was seen in the corporation’s third quarter. “Whirlpool has presented its program and the decisions necessary to regain competitiveness. In view of a difficult economic situation characterised by strong inflation, a drop in demand, an increase in the cost of raw materials and falls in sales, with weak demand forecast for the next 1 – 2 years, it is necessary to carry out a number of structural interventions to reorganise and streamline the production capacity and the workforce, in line with the market situation.”

In Italy, the reorganisation plan presented by the company entails reducing the number of jobs by 950/1000: Naples (180), Siena (120), Trento (50/100), Varese Province (600). The decision was revealed during the meeting at the head office of Univa (the Union of Industrialists in Varese Province), which took place on the morning of Thursday, 10 November. Those present were Whirlpool representatives, Francesca Morichini and Gaetano Bartolone, trade union representatives of Comerio, Cassinetta di Biandronno, Naples, Siena and Trento, and provincial trade union representatives of Varese, Naples, Siena and Trento.

Whirlpool explained that, for Varese, “the reorganisation of the refrigerator area includes the closing of the “side by side” department in Cassinetta di Biandronno, which has already seen redundancies, confirming the global crisis in this sector, as highlighted also by the announced closure of the plant in Fort Smith, in the United States,” reads the note issued by the company. “The reorganisation will be managed locally, with special meetings between the company and trade unions, with utmost transparency in communications, fair treatment of the parties involved, and a commitment to negotiate an agreement that respects everybody’s needs, like those recently reached in Naples and Siena. The overstaffing in Varese will be managed over a two-year period, with employees being relocated to other departments. However, the possibility of other actions, incentives to resign or relocate externally, have not been ruled out.”

During the meeting, Whirlpool confirmed “the validity of the business strategy aimed at relaunch and at growth, by concentrating on their strengths, namely, offering consumers important brands, the efficient company structure, and continuous innovation in products and manufacturing processes.” To this end, Comerio’s role as a strategic centre has been confirmed. For Cassinetta di Biandronno, the design centres (product/process), the production and logistics departments have been confirmed. After the meeting, the union representatives decided to call their members for a meeting, and particularly for Varese, asked the company to present the industrial plan for the area, which will be the object of future local meetings.