Workers protest proposed sale of Whirlpool plant in Naples, Italy

Currently there are 420 workers employed at the company’s plant in Naples, which is engaged in the production of washing machines

September 27, 2019 by Peoples Dispatch
Naples
The protesting workers had blocked the Naples-Pompeii-Salerno motorway near the A3 tollbooth on September 18. (Photo: Contropiano.org)

On September 18, workers of the Whirlpool plant in Naples, Italy, blocked the Naples-Pompeii-Salerno motorway to protest the proposed sale of the plant to a Swiss firm. The company had announced on September 17 that it would sell the plant to the Swiss-owned Passive Refrigeration Solutions (PRS) which is involved in the production and sale of refrigerated containers.

Contropiano.org reported that following the blockade, the workers marched to the  Via Argine plant and held a demonstration outside the factory gates.

Viola Carofalo, national spokesman of Power to the People (Potere al Popolo), said in the organization’s statement that the Whirlpool workers do not accept this “scandalous” sale by the company and demanded that the plant remain operational for the production of washing machines.

“The government must intervene directly and assume its responsibilities and if it is not able to ensure that Whirlpool respects the agreements, it must nationalize the factory and carry on the production of washing machines, [for] the workers who can carry on the company and continue to work in such an important area of ​​Naples,” Carofalo added.

Currently, the plant employs 420 workers. There have been accusations that the company’s decision to sell the plant is based on the 2019-2021 business plan of Whirlpool Emea, which plans at least 800 redundancies or lay-offs in Italy.