The government was pleased as well: "We had promised the workers of Whirlpool: No closing, no layoffs," Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi posted on Twitter. "An important agreement was signed that ends two months of struggle," explained Marco Bentivogli of the FIM-CISL union. "The new business plan is a plan for real recovery." The signing of the framework agreement will be followed by local agreements on social welfare and on guarantees regarding the 2015-18 business plan. A new round of consultations with the unions will start by October. The Secretary-General of the UILM union confederation, Rocco Palombella, said there will be no layoffs in any of the Italian factories. "We have signed an important draft agreement with Whirlpool. In the coming days it will be submitted to the vote of the workers in all the factories and offices." Palombella continued: "It is undoubtedly a positive agreement, especially when you consider where we started from. It averts the risk of over 2,000 layoffs and assigns a mission to all Italian plants, while also finding a solution for Caserta and None which were scheduled to be closed. Whirlpool has formally committed to no layoffs for the duration of the business plan, which runs until 2018. The company has also pledged to withdraw the declaration of 2060 redundancies; to transfer workers between offices and plants located in different regions only on a voluntary basis; to relocate and retrain employees whose functions are transferred to another region; to invest 513.5 million euros; to use social safety nets such as the wage guarantee fund and solidarity contracts using rotation for an equitable distribution of work. If the draft agreement is approved by the national ballot of workers, executive agreements will follow in each area to define in detailed terms the use of social security; incentives for voluntary mobility or retirement will be launched in a single national procedure". (AGI)