Italian auto workers go on strike

ROME (AP) — Workers in Italy’s struggling auto sector began their first national strike in 20 years on Friday with a mass demonstration in central Rome.

Tens of thousands of auto workers marched through the capital’s streets, waving red union flags and holding banners demanding better working conditions.

“We work one or two days a week when business is good. That’s why today we say that the cost of the (ecological) transition cannot be passed on only to workers,” said Riccardo Falcetta, a representative of the UIL metalworkers’ union in Bari.

The country’s three main auto unions are demanding the government protect employment in the sector and give new impetus to the Italian auto industry, starting with manufacturer Stellantis.

Stellantis, the world’s fourth-largest automaker, is under global pressure to clarify its future production plans as it faces growing competition and financial difficulties. Italy’s far-right government accuses the company of moving assembly production to low-cost countries.

The multinational group, created in 2021 by the merger of Fiat-Chrysler and PSA Peugeot, recorded a sharp drop in production at most of its Italian plants in the first half of 2024. The automaker has downsized its Italian plants over the past 17 years. production is almost 70%.

Carlos Tavares, Peugeot’s chief executive, recently blamed European carbon regulations for rising production costs, hinting that the group may be forced to close some assembly plants to face competition from China. Tavares said he “cannot rule out” workforce cuts and reiterated the need for new government incentives to stimulate demand for electric vehicles.

Stellantis, which makes Jeep and Chrysler vehicles, was in the spotlight after it warned it was expected to end the year with a loss of up to 10 billion euros ($11.2 billion).

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Associated Press producer Tricia Thomas contributed to this report.