Italy's far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini on Tuesday welcomed an accord under which all 417 fired workers at a site near the northwest city of Turin belonging to Whirlpool unit Embraco will be re-employed by the Israeli-Chinese Ventures Group.
"I am happy for the 417 Embraco workers! I have lived through this crisis with them from its onset and have fought to find a solution," Salvini said.
Israeli-Chinese Ventures Group, which will make robots for cleaning solar panels and later water purification systems will operate the former Embraco site from 16 July under a deal signed on Tuesday.
The workers will keep their present salary, seniority and conditions and Ventures Group will apply for government lay-off benefits to restructure and reorganise the site over a period of two years under the deal.
Ninety workers will come back immediately.
Italy raised the case with the European Commission after Embraco said earlier this year it would close its Riva di Chieri plant, sack 497 out of 537 workers there and switch its fridge compressor-producing activity to Slovakia.
At Italy's request, EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager was due to establish if Slovakia breached European Union state aid rules.
.jpg)
