The Poker Game In Naples Is Over

Cammy Corrigan
by Cammy Corrigan

Many of you don’t know this, but during my days at university, I supplemented my meager grant money (in the days when European governments gave grant money to students) by gambling said grant. The extra money came in useful for text books, science equipment, drinking lager till my head span, etc. The fruit machines and betting on horses was fun enough, but where I really excelled was poker. Texas Hold ’em, to be more accurate. I learnt many of life’s lessons that way, but the one which stuck in my mind the most was this little nugget: “When you play a bluff, be prepared to have that bluff called.” Words which certain Italian unions should have heeded.

On July the first, I wrote about how Sergio (we’re on first name terms) had lost patience with Italian unions and threatened them to change their ways or risk losing work, namely in the shape of Fiat’s new Panda. Even though 62 percent of the unions agreed to the new terms and conditions, it wasn’t enough to ensure industrial harmony. Sergio was reportedly unhappy at this result.

But, the unions (well, most of them) saw the light. The Associated Press (via Google News) reports that Fiat SpA will push ahead with this €700m investment into the Pomigliano plant to pay for tooling for the new Fiat Panda. Fiat confirmed this when Sergio Marchionne met with unions which represented 83 percent of the workforce and signed a deal to back Fiat’s plans.

The only union to oppose these plans was the FIOM. A Fiat spokesman said “The plan goes ahead and we will be working with the unions who signed up for the deal to ensure we don’t have any disruptions from those FIOM workers,”. Wow! Strong words, indeed. But the FIOM weren’t taking this lying down and issued their own statement, saying, “This does not seem a useful way to confront problems created by the serious crisis we are facing,”

Despite this frosty relationship, Sergio wants to invest strongly in Italy. In a four-page letter to Fiat employees, Sergio said: “The contents of the plan that you know well foresees concentrating large investments in the country to increase the number of cars produced in Italy and to see exports grow,” And grow they will, as this new deal will see production at the Pomigliano plants grow from 30,000 units per year to 300,000 per year. While things are looking rosy for Fiat, Sergio might want to heed this other little poker nugget of wisdom. Anyone who’s watched “ Rounders“, will remember Mike McDermott’s (played by Matt Damon) speech:

“In ‘Confessions of a Winning Poker Player,’ Jack King said, ‘Few players recall big pots they have won, strange as it seems, but every player can remember with remarkable accuracy the outstanding tough beats of his career.'”

Let’s hope Chrysler doesn’t turn out to be Sergio’s “tough beat”.

Cammy Corrigan
Cammy Corrigan

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 5 comments
  • Vww12 Vww12 on Jul 10, 2010

    Not clear to me if the dog is mocking this disgusting song. Hopefully he is, or this song has no place in TTAC. The last verse is particularly Orwellian. Forward people, to the revolt The red flag, the red flag Forward people, to the revolt, The red flag will triumph The red flag will triumph, The red flag will triumph, The red flag will triumph, Long live socialism and liberty

    • See 2 previous
    • Asapuntz Asapuntz on Jul 10, 2010

      Don't know what your experience is with Italian labor and socialist movements, but given the country's history with fascism, socialism might not be such a dirty word there. To me this looks to be a mash-up, and an irreverent one at that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJwgP44Ap9E

  • Geo. Levecque Geo. Levecque on Jul 10, 2010

    Chrysler will soon be coming back to the US Government for more Money, if they don't have it, they will be heading fast for the dump! The Hook up with FIAT is a no brainer imho!

  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
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