Whirlpool, Prime Minister Conte meets workers and unions and reiterates the Government's commitment

Naples. About twenty workers and union representatives met with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who has been visiting Naples since this morning. The prime minister confirmed the government's strong commitment to the dispute. "We will tell Whirlpool's owners: are you having problems, a business plan that isn't delivering, or are you having competitiveness issues? Here are 380 talented people" from the Apple Academy "who are churning out globally competitive digital products: who knows, maybe they have some ideas for you. Take up the challenge of competitiveness here; don't go looking for it in Sweden or Poland, because we're offering it to you here, in the seemingly most deprived part of the city," Conte began his remarks to the young people at the Apple Academy, referring to Whirlpool. Shortly thereafter, he met with a delegation from the factory in a private meeting. "We also asked the Prime Minister to commit to ensuring Whirlpool honors the agreement signed six months ago. We were assured of his commitment to prevent a further step in the industrial desertification of this city," said Giuseppe, a Whirlpool assembly line worker, just leaving a meeting at the headquarters of the nonprofit organization "Figli di Famiglia" in the Neapolitan neighborhood of San Giovanni a Teduccio. "Conte," Giuseppe explained, "told us that Di Maio is working to convince the multinational to reconsider. Now we're waiting for June 21st, the next meeting at the ministry. The company must highlight the critical issues of a plan signed six months ago and now being questioned. It must explain how to move forward, while remaining committed to Naples, not withdrawing through deindustrialization or the sale of its business. That would mean handing 421 people over to organized crime." The meeting was also attended by Campania union leaders, including Giovanni Sgambati, regional secretary of the UIL (Italian Labour Union): "We appreciated the prime minister's openness," he said at the end of the meeting with Conte, "even though he delegated a lot to Di Maio. The government is sensitive, and we insisted that even Conte's direct pressure must be curbed by a lack of commitment to Naples. We hope that a step forward will be made on the 21st. However, concrete negotiations can only begin with one point: Whirlpool must remain in Naples."
"Prime Minister Conte reiterated the government's commitment and attention to the Whirlpool issue. This is an important element that will be verified at the meeting next Friday. At that meeting, we will measure how these commitments are translated. Above all, it will be important to understand how the commitments already made regarding the maintenance of production, employment and the non-disengagement of Whirlpool are concretely translated". This is what the general secretaries of Cgil Napoli, Walter Schiavella and Cgil Campania, Nicola Ricci, stated after the meeting with the Prime Minister.
"President Conte wanted to listen to our reasons and reiterated that the Government is committed to ensuring that Whirlpool respects the agreements. We have asked that there be an effort by all the institutions to enforce the October agreement and to get into the merits of how to relaunch production and the commitment to Naples. Campania cannot suffer another blow after the one inflicted on Caserta 3 years ago". Said Antonio Accurso, general secretary of Uilm Campania. 
During the meeting, Prime Minister Conte relaunched the work of the Minister of Economic Development Luigi Di Maio: “We have a Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development who is from these territories, so he is hyper sensitive to this issue”.