Luisa Delgado, CEO of Safilo Group
PADUA, Italy— Safilo Group (SFL:MI) announced that it will not renew its solidarity contract for Longarone and Santa Maria di Sala facilities and that it has signed approximately 100 voluntary exit agreements.
 
The company underscored its intention “to preserve and further strengthen its historical high-value added manufacturing craftsmanship and skilled eyewear production in its Italian plants, as part of a product-centered, long term company strategy.”  A statement also said Safilo “is starting to see resulting increases in its Italian production needs.”

Luisa Delgado, CEO of Safilo Group, said, “We believe that an important milestone has been laid for our future. We will go to full work for our plants of Longarone and Santa Maria, and have found a socially sustainable solution that we worked constructively on with our employees and unions, while increasing production efficiency and strengthening staff training and requalification.

We have, therefore, prevented the 1000 potential redundancies in the Italian plants announced two years ago, along with a solidarity contract expiring on August 31, 2014, when the Armani eyewear license was lost in 2012.” That solidarity agreement was initiated in July 2012, as reported by VMail.
 
Delgado added, “The very constructive discussions with employees and unions led to a socially responsible voluntary departure framework agreement, that gave us the ability to take into account individual personal employee and family needs, and find equitable and sustainable solutions for all. Skillful, high-value added quality eyewear manufactured in our Italian craftsmanship tradition, represents a cornerstone of our company's product centered strategy. We are committed to combining it with innovation, operational re-invention, and efficiency increases."