FILE PHOTO: A Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) sign is seen at the U.S. headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, U.S., May 25, 2018. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo
TURIN, Italy (Reuters) – The head of the one of the main union groups at Fiat Chrysler said on Friday a pledge by the Italian-American carmaker and France’s PSA not to shut plants under their recently announced merger deal does not guarantee job levels will stay the same.
Francesca Re David, leader of the FIOM-CGIL labor group, one of the most important union bodies representing the company’s workers, was speaking in Turin before meeting FCA’s managers to discuss details of the merger.
Both companies have pledged not to close any plants as part of the accord.
“When things are put in writing, I tend to trust them and have no reason to be doubtful, but not shutting down plants does not mean guaranteeing job levels, given that in Italy the plants are already running at half their capacity,” she told reporters.
FCA and PSA said on Wednesday they had agreed a binding $50 billion tie-up to create the world’s fourth-largest carmaker.
Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, writing by Silvia Aloisi