CLEVELAND, FEB 7 (ZENIT).- The future is uncertain for 570 Italian Goodyear factory workers in Cisterna, Italy, following the American corporation's decision to close the plant. Nevertheless, a ray of hope has appeared in the last few days.

    Thanks to the intervention of Bishop Anthony Michael Pilla of Cleveland, where the head offices of Goodyear are located, an Italian delegation headed by the Mayor of Cisterna met with Samir Gibara, president of the international tire corporation. Gibara did not make any concrete commitments, but affirmed that on February 18, instead of definitively shutting down the factory, production may be halted for one month, thus giving the union and the Italian government time to find alternative solutions.

    During the meeting possible means of assistance for plant workers were discussed, in the case that the doors are permanently shut. For the time being, the Cisterna delegation is concentrating on saving the jobs.

    Goodyear is one of the most well-known multinationals in the tire industry, but the recent acquisition of factories belonging to other companies, and the restructuring demanded by the globalization of the economy, have led Goodyear management to close factories in several countries, such as England, Argentina, and Brazil. Last November, the European branch announced its plan to cease its operations in Italy, provoking a strong reaction in the workers and citizens of Cisterna.

    Bishop Giuseppe Petrocchi of Latina, the diocese in which Cisterna is located, then wrote to Bishop Pilla, president of the American Bishops Conference until 1998, who requested that his director of social action to look into the problem, organizing a meeting between Goodyear management and representatives of the Italian workers.

    According to observers, even if the chance of influencing the decisions of a multinational corporation obliged to face challenges posed by globalization are slim, the fact of having introduced the human factor as an element to be considered may change the dynamics of the decision-making process. ZE00020701