Fiat's Termini Imerese plant in Sicily was forced to put a stop to production as workers walked off the job in protest of cutbacks going forward at the plant. The shutdown began on Tuesday and has now conflicted with a planned shutdown. As part of a government-funded temporary layoff program , the plant was slated for shutdown from today until January 7. A meeting to 'discuss the future of the plant' is planned for next month. It seems as though the company would not be opposed to shutting down the plant, but the government is leery of losing the almost 2,500 jobs associated with the plant, especially considering the high amount of unemployment Italy has struggled with since the economic downturn.
See "Fiat strike halts production at Sicily plant that's slated to close", Marco Bertacche, Detroit News, December 23, 2009