Uniona Saya Data 12,000 Jobs Ata Riska In Italy

MILAN, May 19 Reuters reported that up to 12,000 Italian car industry jobs could be at risk after cutbacks at debt-laden carmaker Fiat (Milan, unions said over the weekend.

"Some 12,000 jobs are at risk. The entire Turin industrial system is in danger," said Giorgio Airaudo, secretary of the Turin branch of the Fiom Cgil union.

Newspapers quoted Fiat Chairman Paulo Fresco as saying some 10,000 car industry workers could be laid off.

"It is not crazy to think the impact could be close to 10,000 workers everything considered," La Repubblica newspaper quoted Fresco as saying.

A tough market forced Fiat to announce last week that it would fire almost 3,000 workers in Italy, mostly between July and November, as the industrial group struggles with steep falls in car sales and rising debt.

Unions said that in addition to 1,750 Fiat jobs to be cut in Turin, where Fiat is based, jobs could also be lost at Powertrain, which manufactures motors and parts, and filter down to service companies. Powertrain is a joint venture between Fiat and General Motors Corp. .

Fiat Chief Executive Paolo Cantarella met Labour Minister Roberto Maroni on Friday to explain how the redundancies would work and Fiat's revival plan.

A second meeting between Maroni, unions and Fiat representatives is scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday, newspapers reported.

Car sales in Italy could fall by 13-15 percent in May, after a drop of 18 percent in March and 13 percent in April, Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper said, quoting preliminary data from sector research body Centro Studi Promotor.

Official May figures will be released on June 5.

The head of carmaking unit Fiat Auto, Giancarlo Boschetti, said on Friday the key Italian market had shrunk 13 percent in the first quarter and warned "it could be even worse in the near future".

Fiat Auto, 20 percent owned by General Motors, could make a profit in the fourth quarter, Boschetti said, after registering a 529-million-euro net loss in the first quarter due to lower car sales.