The Leonardo Company (formerly Finmeccanica) is presenting its Industrial Optimization Plan for the consolidation and growth of the Electronics Division to Institutional Bodies and Trade Union Organizations, with the aim of aiming for European leadership in the Defense Electronics sector. .
The plan provides for investments (self-financed) of 200M € per year for 5 years for the development of the product portfolio, and another 50M € for the maintenance of those sites recognized as centers of excellence.
There is talk of investing to create the Factory of the Future by improving industrial processes according to the concepts of Industry 4.0 and Digital Manufacturing, relations with universities will be increased and Italian industrial capacity will be increased, taking into due consideration environmental sustainability which has rightly become a must of our times.
This plan provides for the closure of 6 sites in Italy, merging them into neighboring realities, and the creation of a Logistic Hub in the area of the municipality of Pomezia south of Rome.
Of course, the plan does not provide for reductions in the workforce of Leonardo's workers, on the contrary there will be hires.
And so far so good.
Thinking about it better, however, there are some doubts about the real effectiveness of the Plan and its final purpose.
More than an industrial plan, it looks like an economic plan with the aim of rationalizing the company's costs, making cash for the benefit of the shareholders and the company's top management.
We do not want to enter into economic disquisitions and we are positively surprised that a company 30% owned by the state does not talk about state financing, defining itself able to provide for itself, and perhaps without increasing its debt and improving cash flow (the flow of cash rightly to be taken into consideration).
Instead, we want to enter into the merits of the closure of the sites: more specifically in that of Pomezia, a historic site, active since the 60s, first as Scialotti, then as Elmer (Southern Electronics) and gradually until the merger with Marconi and then at the entry into the Finmeccanica orbit now Leonardo.
First of all Pomezia is a site owned and it is not clear why to close it and keep others open where instead you pay a rent.
The employees of the Pomezia site are active in the design, development, management and maintenance of equipment for military, land, naval and avionic communications; activities in which Leonardo presents itself as an international player, also thanks to the collaboration with near the military airport of Pratica di Mare.
The closure of the site provides for the movement of over 700 employees and activities to other sites in the Lazio area: that of Cisterna di Latina, the Roman ones of the Ex Sistemi Integrati on via Tiburtina, of the Ex Vitrociset always in via Tiburtina and at the site (perhaps for rent) by Leonardo in via Laurentina. In some cases we are talking about sites with a strong need for extraordinary maintenance, compared to Pomezia already ready for use thanks to the investments made in the past and which continue today.
At a time when even Leonardo is focused on environmental sustainability, she herself does not bother to further increase commuting on road sections (Via Pontina and Grande Raccordo Anulare) already naturally "man-made", ignoring the consequent pollution, the increase in consumption of its employees, the increase in hours spent in the car to reach a more distant job, up to the so-called work-related stress.
If Leonardo declares that there will be no job losses, he is certainly referring to his employees, but what will happen to the induced. The necessary activities for a large company, such as cleaning, canteen and services, are largely based on part-time operators, therefore with a medium-low income: certainly those who work 4 hours a day cannot afford to manage their money to languish for 2-3 hours in road traffic, and then he will quit (we can talk about induced dismissal).
Always induced dismissal, we are led to think that some Leonardo employees may seek their fortune elsewhere, taking advantage of the high experience acquired over years of working in the company.
With regard to the Municipality of Pomezia, instead of a company with a high technological content, Leonardo intends to establish a logistics hub, a general department store managed by 40-50 workers, with a certainly lower income than the colleagues employed and middle managers who will leave Pomezia. to migrate to other sites.
This will lead to a decrease in purchasing capacity in the Lazio town, with the growing dissatisfaction of local traders already tried by the pandemic.
The closure of the site will not allow the hiring of local young people, and therefore there will be no demand for new homes or for kindergartens and schools and all those needs generated by new families.
The disappearance of another large company in the Pomethine area, already heavily depressed economically, could lead to the establishment of criminal organizations. Leonardo is a state subsidiary and, as such, shares the social responsibility of the place where it operates with the state.
Protection of the environment, health, work, social equality, and justice are just some of the goals for sustainable development, known as the 2030 Agenda, identified by the United Nations, and which even large companies must take into due consideration.
Finally it is not clear the reasons why you want to close a site that, even during the pandemic, managed to perform excellently, so much so that the employees, having achieved the set objectives, obtained the payment of 100% of the Result Bonus of site.
Pomezia is a site defined by others as a jewel and a Swiss watch and we believe that Leonardo should and can review his plan.
Letter signed
