Carmaker Fiat won support from all but one Italian union for a long-awaited deal on changes to working practices on Friday, leaving the future of a Naples plant and a 700 million euro investment still undecided.
After fractured talks, four unions signed up to the deal while one rejected it. The accord, which Fiat says is necessary to make the Pomigliano d'Arco plant globally competitive, now goes to a referendum among workers, unions said.
Fiat deferred any decision on whether to go ahead anyway with the investments to upgrade the plant ready for production of its new Panda model, said the Fiom union, which rejected the deal.
Fiat welcomed the support of the unions agreeing to the deal and would wait for the outcome of the referendum to see how extensively the accord could be applied, a company source at the meeting told Reuters.
Fiat had no immediate comment. The company wants to make the changes at the Naples plant as part of plans to boost production in its home country by more than half to as much as 1 million vehicles a year in 2012.
Italy's car industry, where Fiat is a major player, accounts for 11.4 percent of an economy showing tentative signs of growth after its worst recession since World War Two.
So far, the Rome government has stayed out of the talks, which have dragged on for six months.
Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said earlier on Friday the company wanted to close the deal the same day, warning time was running out.
The Pomigliano plant, which has about 5,000 workers, has no alternative to producing cars, Marchionne said before the close of the talks, speaking at an event in Venice.
Fiat offered in December to bring production of its latest Panda model from its Polish factory to Pomigliano to give the plant a lifeline as it struggles to remain competitive.
Union concerns over the deal had been that some of Fiat's demands could be in breach of labor laws or national employment contracts.
