No progress was made at a meeting
at the premier's office Palazzo Chigi in Rome on Tuesday morning
on the controversial sale of the Naples plant of American
home-appliances giant Whirpool, Industry Minister Stefano
Patuanelli said.
Patuanelli said the meeting was "not positive" because the
company did not open to the possibility of suspending the
plant's sale.
The company "continues to propose as the only solution the
sale of the company's branch", he continued.
If Whirpool will continue to have "an attitude of unilateral
choices, the government will also take unilateral choices",
concluded the minister.
Whirlpool wants to sell the plant, which currently produces
washing machines, to a company called Passive Refrigeration
Solutions (PRS).
Unions say the move casts a shadow over the future of the
plant and the jobs of the 430 people who work there.
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