Toilets are apparently a central issue in an effort by Stellantis to cut costs at Fiat’s factories in Italy.
The FIM union that represents workers at the Fiat New 500 plant in Turin, said Stellantis — the company formed through the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group — had reduced the number of toilets available to workers, decreased cleaning shifts and adjusted the temperature to save money.
“This is happening during COVID-19, when you should be increasing toilets available and cleaning services, rather than cutting them,” union representative Davide Provenzano told Reuters.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has promised nearly $6 billion in savings from the merger, which closed in January, without shutting plants or cutting jobs. Company officials declined to comment on the Reuters report.
At a Fiat van plant in central Italy, Nicola Manzi of the UILM union said Stellantis had cut cleaning work by more than a third but didn’t take away any toilets or coronavirus disinfection services.
“We are currently running almost at full capacity,” Manzi said. “It would be hard to cut the number of toilets here.”