Workers at a Fiat Chrysler plant in Italy are to strike after its main investor decided to pay €112m (£99.2m) to sign footballer Cristiano Ronaldo for Juventus.
Fiat factory workers in Italy can think of a few things they'd rather see their owner spend $US130 million ($177 million) on soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.
Workers of Italian automobile factory Fiat owned by the Agnelli family, who are also the owners of Juventus fc are absurd with the decision of the Bianconeri to purchase Cristino Ronaldo for €112 million ($130 million) and there took to the streets to protest against the for Real Madrid striker.
The workers believe there are several pressing issues that such monies could have sorted out such as job-boosting investments like making better cars, the union said.
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"It's unacceptable that, while FCA and CNHI workers continue to make huge economic sacrifices, the company spends hundreds of millions of euros on the purchase of a player," union USB Lavoro Privato said in a statement. It's calling for a strike the Melfi plant in southern Italy between 10 pm on July 15 and 6 pm on July 17.
Thousands of FCA plant workers across Italy have been on state-sponsored temporary layoff schemes for years due to lack of new models. However, the company has launched a new investment strategy to 2022 which it says should allow all employees in Italy to return to work by the end of that year.
Spanish soccer giant Real Madrid Football Club agreed on July 10 to transfer five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo to Juventus after the player asked to leave. Juventus will pay €100 million ($158 million) for the move and another €12 million in additional fees to sign the player to a four-year contract, the club said in a statement.
The Agnelli family, which has owned Turin-based Juventus for more than 90 years, controls carmakers Ferrari and Fiat Chrysler through its holding company, Exor, which also owns 64 per cent of Juventus.
Fiat Chrysler, whose Jeep logo is plastered across Juventus' black-and-white-striped jerseys, could get a huge advertising boost in the deal, according to analysts.
If Ronaldo can lead Juventus to the UEFA Champions League final, the media exposure for that year alone would be worth about $US58.3 million, according to Eric Smallwood, president of Apex Marketing Group.
"We're all employees of the same owner, but in such a period of enormous social difficulty this difference in treatment cannot and must not be accepted," the union said.
"The company should invest in car models that guarantee the futures of thousands of people, rather than enriching only one."
Juventus, winner of a record seven consecutive Serie A championships, has seen its share price rise about 35 per cent since talk of a deal for the star player surfaced last week.
Ronaldo scored 451 goals in 438 games since he joined Real Madrid in 2009, helping the club to win four Champions League titles, and La Liga, Spain's top soccer division, twice.