MILAN — All Kering Group companies will hold a strike on May 20 in Italy, staged by the country’s unions Filctem Cgil, Femca Cisl and Uiltec Uil.
A demonstration will take place in Florence and in other locations that were not yet identified in a statement issued by the unions on Thursday.
These steps were “made necessary in light of the management’s unavailability to discuss the group’s reorganization plan dubbed ‘ReconKering,’ which was never presented to the unions, and because of the 54 layoffs announced for Alexander McQueen for which the company does not plan to activate any kind of social safety net,” read the statement.
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The unions asked for the “immediate” withdrawal of the announced layoffs in favor of alternative solutions and urged Kering to explain what the “ReconKering” relaunch plan entails. The parent group’s approach to McQueen “is not acceptable” and would set a precedent the unions want to avoid.
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“We must take into consideration the potential impact of each decision both within the group and on the outside, connected manufacturing pipeline,” concluded the unions, urgently requesting a meeting to be made aware of the industrial plans of the group. “It is not possible to proceed without [it].”
Asked for a comment, Kering stated that “as already communicated several months ago, McQueen is going through a collective redundancy procedure affecting the brand’s activities in Italy. This difficult decision is consistent with the evolution of the House’s operating model and the strategic review of its global operations, aimed at restoring the business to sustainable profitability over the next years, while laying the foundations for its long-term future.”
Referring to Kering’s strategy, the group “has always been committed to maintaining a sound and constructive social dialogue with its unions’ representatives,” continued the response. “The Group strategy continues to be presented to the Group employee representatives during regular meetings according to a schedule that was planned and announced long ago. The next meeting is planned for early June.”
As reported, Kering’s chief executive officer Luca de Meo in April unveiled his strategic roadmap under the banner “ReconKering” during a Capital Markets Day in Florence, aimed at promoting clearer priorities, better accountability and faster decision-making.
It was articulated around three phases: completing a structural reset by the end of 2026, entering a rebuild phase of sustainable growth by the end of 2028, and reclaiming the group’s “leadership as the reference player in Next Luxury” by the end of 2030.
During his speech, he cautioned that Kering’s underperforming brands — which include McQueen, menswear company Brioni, porcelain maker Ginori 1735 and jeweler Pomellato — have two years to return to profitability.
“To be a luxury brand, you need to make money,” he said. “Otherwise, I eject them from the system.”
A month earlier, the unions said McQueen was planning to let go of 54 out of 181 employees. At the time, the company confirmed “the opening of collective redundancy procedures, affecting the brand’s activities in Italy. This difficult decision is consistent with the strategic review of our global operations announced in November and part of the group-wide effort to restore the business to sustainable profitability over the next three years, while laying the foundations for its long-term future.”
The brand has incurred heavy losses by opening 135 stores worldwide and allowing itself to become excessively reliant on sneaker sales, which at one point represented 80 percent of its revenues, de Meo has said.
McQueen has struggled for years, even during the long tenure of its star designer Sarah Burton, who is now at the creative helm of Givenchy and was succeeded by Seán McGirr.