Employees at Fiat's plant in Mirafiori, Italy will vote today on a reorganization proposal that officials hope will help reinvigorate the auto company's partnership with Chrysler Group LLC by sharing production of Jeep SUVs and Alfa Romeos. The agreement would increase productivity in Fiat's flagging Italian plants, in addition to measures such as increasing work hours and decreasing break time for employees. While some union leaders have fought the measure and threatened a strike, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has threatened to move Fiat operations out of Italy if the proposal doesn't receive the requisite 50% of the vote to pass.
See "Marchionne Faces Final Turin Test as Fiat Workers Clash Over Strike Rights", Tommaso Ebhardt, Bloomberg News, January 13, 2011