Cologno Monzese, Janssen wants to leave 57 employees at home: the mobilization of workers
The pharmaceutical multinational has started the process of laying off 57 employees. The unions protest against a decision motivated by reorganization choices: “The company has a turnover of over one billion euros. It cannot hide behind economic problems”. In the report presented at the latest edition of Dialoghi del Nord Milano, Janssen had obtained second place in the ranking as a performing company in the North Milan area
north Milan 24 – 21 April 2023
With a turnover exceeding one billion euros there Janssen Cilag Spa of Cologno Monzese, company 
leader in the pharmaceutical field of the Johnson & Johnson group, would appear to be in excellent health. Yet this has not prevented from starting the collective dismissal procedure for 57 employees, out of the approximately 600 employees at the headquarters on the outskirts of Milan, between scientific informants – 31 those kicked out – and clerical staff at various levels.
Yesterday morning the mobilization of workers, called by the confederal trade unions, in front of the headquarters in via Buonarroti 23 where, since 1975, the research and development projects of the company specialized in the production of life-saving drugs, especially anticancer and blood drugs, have been followed, which has made its contribution to the vaccination campaign by producing vaccines against Covid. The pouring rain did not dissuade the workers from guarding the gates to express their dissent against a decision motivated by the start of a corporate reorganization process. A choice considered unacceptable by the unions: “Thecompany is healthy as evidenced by the turnover of over 1 billion euros – he explains Rino Fresca, secretary of the Femca Cisl of Milan -, therefore it cannot hide behind economic problems”. Especially since recently, the unions say, the company has hired 18 young people and there are 31 employees on the workforce with administration contracts.
The concern among the workers on duty is understandable: "I have been working here for 22 years and it is the first time that a situation of this kind has arisen - he comments Francesco Rattini, delegate Janssen Femca Cisl Milano Metropoli -. The thing that leaves us disappointed is that an economically healthy and growing company decides to face a reorganization process with little attention to workers, their stability and their future”.
So far the requests have been useless advanced by the unions to the Janssen to evaluate alternative paths to dismissal collective, a procedure launched at the beginning of last March: “We asked the company to be able to reason about voluntary incentivized exits and retirements, accompanying people within two years to slide pensions – specifies Fresca -. However, we have not yet been able to find a solution and thecompany stiffened because he would like to manage this procedure with the articles of law in order to establish who to send away because he is no longer considered useful". Since the start of the collective redundancy procedure, some have also followed meetings in Assolombarda, the latest on April 12, which though have not had the desired effect of an agreement between the parties.
