NF500 / polish auto

Following on from our recent report of workers at the Polish plant producing the new Fiat 500 threatening strike action, it has emerged that managers at Fiat’s Polish auto division will meet with workers’ representatives next week in an effort to prevent the wage claim from escalating into a walk out.

Wanda Strozyk, senior delegate for the NSZZ Solidarnosc union at Fiat’s Tychy factory, and regional Solidarnosc vice president Rajmund Pollak told Dow Jones Newswires that the union is calling for a 100% increase in the minimum monthly starting salary at the plant, raising it from around 1,400 zlotys - or about €373 at current exchange rates - to 2,800 zlotys..

The meeting at Tychy, in southern Poland, is likely to take place July 17, they said.

Fiat officials confirmed the talks will take place next week, saying the company is approaching the meeting in a constructive manner and that the talks are part of normal negotiation processes of the type it has with its workers in many countries.

In a preliminary meeting held July 12, the union officials said Fiat managers proposed offering the plant’s workforce a one-off bonus for the successful launch earlier this month of the 500. The Turin-based company says it has already taken 40,000 orders. Fiat’s representatives didn’t say how big the bonus might be, the union officials said.

Management also offered a Christmas bonus, which will likely be higher than that paid in 2006, according to the union officials, and agreed to a union request that the speed at which the plant’s assembly lines move is monitored to ensure it doesn’t accelerate during shifts.

Solidarnosc’s Strozyk said,

The goal is not to go for a strike, the goal is to have a constructive dialogue,

acknowledging that there’s room for compromise and that a series of smaller wage increases phased in over time might be acceptable to the trade union.

But we’re prepared for it, we have the capacity to organize protests, including strikes. We want to see what management’s strategy is for getting to 2,800 zlotys.

With further meetings expected around the end of August, any strike action wouldn’t likely take place before September. Solidarnosc is one of seven unions recognized at Fiat’s Polish operations - which include another auto plant at nearby Bielsko-Biala - and it isn’t clear to what extent any action would be matched by other unions.

Disruption in production at the Tychy plant would come at a delicate moment for Fiat: the success of the 500 is a key part of its plans to consolidate on its recent return to profit after years of losses in its auto operations.