After protests involving unions and the local council, it seems the Moto Guzzi factory at Mandello del Lario on Lake Como will remain open.
The facility is the spiritual heartland of the Moto Guzzi brand, and after 1,500 Moto Guzzi owners and riders turned up to protest, the factory will remain open.
It seems to have galvanised Moto Guzzi management into action, with the president of the company, Roberto Colannino, claiming that Moto Guzzi will be making new investments and developing new models.
Workers maintain that Moto Guzzi is still looking to empty its factory, transferring workers to other Piaggio facilities in northern Italy, such as Noale in Venezia and Pontedera in Pisa, central Italy.
According to them, over a third of the 150 employees risk losing their jobs, while the identity of the Moto Guzzi is being compromised (see petition details after the jump).
Even the local mayor of Mandello is concerned, with the Moto Guzzi brand bringing additional tourism and industry investment to the small town.
The factory has been at the site since 1921, making it an integral part of the community and suggesting that the Moto Guzzi brand exists as much in the nostalgia of the people as the models it actually sells.
According to reports, a long line of protestors formed a motorcycle link that went to the centre of the nearby centre of commerce, Lecco, a town ten kilometres away, stopping traffic but receiving affectionate applause from local inhabitants and workers.
You can still sign the petition, currently running at more than 4,000 signatures.
Go to www.
ipetitions.
com/petition/noallachiusuradellamotoguzzi/ for the details.