Fiat car plant wives committee asks pope to refuse 'gift'

(see previous). (ANSA) - Pomigliano D'Arco (Naples), June 11 - A committee of the wives of Pomigliano automobile plant workers on Wednesday called for Pope Francis to refuse a Fiat Panda said to have been given to him by workers at the southern car plant.
    "The acritical acceptance of the 'gift' would offend both the living and the memory of the workers who committed suicide in Pomigliano and Nola," reads the statement. Pope Francis on Wednesday morning received the offer of the gift produced on the assembly lines of the Campania region plant, and took the keys at his general audience in St Peter's Square.
    The committee stated that the "gift" was "not from the workers, it was from Fiat" and that the workers who had brought the car to him had been paid for doing so by the company. The gift came from "CEO Marchionne, who in a single year takes home as much as all of his workers put together", said the committee.