Leonardo: Agreement reached with trade unions on Aerostructures CIGO funds

Rome  18 January 2022 16:48

Discussions between Leonardo and the trade unions have concluded positively today with the signing of a Framework Agreement for the management of the short-term reduction in production volumes in the Aerostructures Division.

The continuation of the pandemic crisis and its impact on civil air transport, with subsequent repercussions on the aerostructures production sector, has resulted in a reduction in production volumes for 2022, making it necessary to resort to the CIGO - Cassa Integrazione Guadagni Ordinaria (the Italian Wages Guarantee Fund.) Until now, this national public scheme had been avoided through management actions and territorial compensations, which alone, are no longer able to guarantee the management of the economic decrease in production.

The CIGO scheme, as an instrument of managerial flexibility, is currently the most suitable and capable way of ensuring coverage of work stoppage days this year, while preserving economic and industrial sustainability. This is also in consideration of the financial commitment assumed by Leonardo with investments aimed at consolidating the centrality of the aerostructures business through the technological upgrades of programmes, plants, and production processes.

Lucio Valerio Cioffi - Leonardo's General Manager - commented: "The agreement signed today in a united manner with the trade unions represents a fundamental step towards overcoming a conjunctural phase linked to the continuing effects of the pandemic, which has caused the sharpest drop in passenger traffic in the history of civil aviation. We are moving forward - through the continuation of dialogue with the trade unions - with the plan aimed at transforming and relaunching our Aerostructures business by which, between 2019 and 2023, we will have invested over 300 million euros".

These are important, unparalleled investments in Southern Italy, but fundamental for Leonardo which, in the Aeronautics, Electronics, and Helicopters business sectors, employs around 7,400 resources between the regions of Campania and Puglia, net of related local suppliers. Specifically, in Campania, at the production sites of Naples and Giugliano (Electronics), Nola and Pomigliano D'Arco (Aeronautics), and Benevento (Helicopters), about 4,400 people are employed, representing 57% of the total number of employees in hightech manufacturing in the region.
In Puglia, at the production sites of Grottaglie and Foggia (Aerostructures), Brindisi (Helicopters), and Taranto (Electronics), about 3,000 people are employed, equating to 84% of the total number of employees in high-tech manufacturing in the region.

In addition, Leonardo, together with its suppliers, generates economic and social value in the territory by working to create a quality supply chain and a sustainable path of common growth.

Along with the academic and research world, Leonardo works for an innovation open to the cross-fertilisation of new ideas, collaborating with the main universities in the regions where it is present.