MILAN, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Italy’s unions will meet representatives of companies including carmakers Stellantis (STLA.MI) and Ferrari (RACE.MI) on Oct. 26 to start talks over wage increases, a senior official from the UILM union said on Thursday.
On Wednesday FIM-CISL, UILM, Fismic, UGLM and AQCF unions said their delegates had approved a proposal presented last week by their leaders for new four-year contracts for most workers in Italy at Stellantis, Ferrari, Iveco (IVG.MI) and CNH Industrial (CNHI.MI).
The proposal includes a request for a wage increase of 8.4% for next year to counter rising inflation.
The meeting will be held next Wednesday morning in the northern city of Turin where Stellantis, Iveco and CNH Industrial have their Italian headquarters.
Gianluca Ficco, UILM’s head for the automotive industry, told Reuters that negotiations would be “important but difficult” with a complex background, due to sky-rocketing inflation, the economic crisis, supply chain crunches and the industry’s ongoing transition to electrification.
He added unions hoped to sign a deal with the companies — four of Italy’s largest manufacturers — by the end of the year, when current contracts expire.
“Workers feel the urgency to renew contracts,” Ficco said.
“Because of inflation, families are getting poorer, which might cause a slump in consumption and jobs, in a sort of vicious circle”.
Negotiations cover almost 70,000 workers in Italy, two thirds of them at the former Fiat-Chrysler, which last year merged with France’s PSA to create Stellantis, whose brands also include Peugeot and Jeep.
Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari Editing by Keith Weir
