Those who interpreted the closure of the Electrolux plant in Nyíregyháza, Hungary, as a sign of peace for Italian factories were wrong (see article Electrolux in crisis but Italy (for now) is saved). The plan to reorganise the industry is in fact only just beginning. 

This was said by the Rsu of the Susegana (Treviso) plant, according to which that of the Hungarian plant is only an appetizer of what is going to happen. As the Unitary Trade Union Representation points out, the 'axe' of the Swedes has not fallen on Italy, at least for now. There are five plants on our territory: Porcia (Pordenone), Susegana (Treviso), Forlì, Solaro (Milan) and Cerreto d'Esi (Ancona). All come out of this restructuring operation with a modest contribution to cost containment and reduction of production capacity, also thanks to the huge investments made in the Italian factories in recent years. 

Yet, the fear and anger for an uncertain and very dangerous future is great. "It will be thousands of workers directly affected by the redundancies who will pay, given the hundreds of millions of funding received by the multinational -the Susegana union emphasises-. The European Union and the European trade unions must act to prevent this havoc. And we ask the Italian trade unions to take every means and action to do so". 

The Susegana Electrolux unions also call for a first day of struggle to denounce and raise the problem at all institutional levels in Italy, Hungary and the EU. "The fact that production continues to be reduced in the EU puts all remaining factories at risk -the union note confirms-. Susegana included, which risks being, we do not know for how long, the last European refrigerator plant. Next week, the Rsu will convene to assess the problem and possible first actions". 

After the 4,000 redundancies worldwide and the estimated 222 in Italy announced in October, now the Swedish parent company has decided to review production capacity, reducing it. Hence the decision to cease production at the plant in Hungary with 650 employees, specialising in free-standing refrigerators. A decision that entails restructuring costs of about SEK 550 million (about EUR 48 million), which will weigh on the accounts for the first quarter of 2023 as a "non-recurring item affecting the operating profit for the Europe business area".

"The strategic objective -Electrolux claims-, is to optimise refrigerator manufacturing operations from a cost perspective, both through outsourcing and in-house production, thus benefiting from the size of the Group". The allocation of the remaining investments in the refrigeration sector remains to be defined: the group's plan had allocated specific resources to each type of product and, consequently, to each plant, including the five in Italy: Porcia (Pordenone), Susegana (Treviso), Forlì, Solaro (Milan) and Cerreto d'Esi (Ancona). The investments planned in 2018 were worth 8 billion kronor (703 million euros) but, as the Swedish group anticipated, "will be evaluated and redirected".