Whirlpool, unions on alert on confirmation of 95 million investments

Listen to the audio version of the article

At the end of the month, the Whirlpool group will communicate its strategic choices and therefore what will become of its presence in Europe and in Italy. The trade unions have been alerted because right after the communication to the market, the household appliance multinational will meet the workers’ representatives to explain the repercussions of the strategic choices on employment in our country. In the light of the sharp decline in both sales and profitability, due to the sharp rise in production costs, the unions are on the lookout for the confirmation of the 95 million investments planned for this year, both for the improvement of production processes and for the launch of new products.

Fim, Fiom, Uilm, UglM explained that they are very worried, partly about the market trend and the dynamics that are taking place on the raw materials, energy and inflation front, and partly about the group’s performance in the European area . In 2022, the household appliance multinational, despite maintaining its market shares, recorded, at least until the third quarter, a loss in volumes of around 20%. Considering the figure net of Russia, the loss is reduced to 13%. The drop was sharper for free-standing products, while built-in products performed better than the market average. Against this backdrop, «profit margins have been eroded by the sharp increase in production costs. Comparing the third quarter of 2022 with that of 2021, sales fell by 8%, while the Ebit of the European region went from 28 million dollars to -28 million dollars – explains a unitary note from the unions -. For the current year, the household appliances market at European level is expected to contract further between -1% and -3%».

This picture is worrying because in 2023 the group has planned investments in Italian factories for 95 million euros, of which 60 million in products and 35 in processes, to which must be added 1.2 million in the Carinaro warehouse. Forecasts made in recent months spoke of slightly growing production volumes in general and the multinational had also forecast the launch of new products. However, according to the unions, “some basic problems of the factories remain unresolved, in terms of both the lack of structural interventions and the continued use of social safety nets which weigh heavily on workers’ income”. For this reason «we have reiterated our request to recognize workers a salary payment, also in the form of flexible benefits as long as this is legally possible. The price increase reported by the company has not only affected production costs but also workers’ lives and purchasing power».