Husqvarna: farewell also to the warehouse in Cassinetta

 It all happened in a couple of hours, on a hot Thursday at the end of April; just enough time to make official what most had expected for a long time. The representative of Pierer Industrie AG (otherwise known as KTM), the management consultant Haymo Unterhauser, informed the trade unions that the Husqvarna warehouse in Cassinetta di Biandronno is going to be moved to the Austrian branch of the new owners, KTM: this will be the final and definitive phase of this company’s stormy transfer. For the 15 employees still working in Cassinetta, procedures have begun for ordinary redundancy payments.

“I’m not surprised,” said Nino Cartosio, the FIOM trade union representative, who was present at the meeting. “I never believed that this warehouse could have a future. It only was a little ‘chapel’ in the middle of the desert. Once again, what leaves a bad taste in the mouth is the fact that the company changed its mind at the last minute.”

Indeed, before the Ministry of Economic Development, Pierer Industrie had agreed to keep the warehouse and, therefore, the jobs, open until a productive solution could be found. “But now, the warehouse is going to be emptied by the end of May, and the only thing that is sure is the confirmation of poor management on the part of the Austrians.”

And yet, a solution seemed to be close at hand. The penultimate meeting between the trade unions and the owners, which took place at the Varese branch of UNIVA, on 6 March, ended with an announcement, by the Pierer representatives, that part of the Varese factory had been rented to the Chinese giant Shineray SRM.

“All that remains is to understand what the Chinese intend to do, and to check, in the next few weeks, if the 52 people receiving redundancy payments can be reintegrated.” This check of Shineray’s intentions is what the trade unions and UNIVA are working on, and it is hoped this will be done quickly. The ordinary redundancy payments will stop in September, and so far, no serious industrial plan has been presented for the factory, which, we should remember, was renovated by the previous owner, the German company, BMW.

According to Flavio Cervellino (the FIM – CISL trade union representative), it is not even worthwhile commenting on what was said today. “The matter was up in the air. The company has always behaved in this way, demonstrating it is unable to keep promises made.”