ROME, Oct 30 (Reuters) - The Italian government on Wednesday asked struggling automaker Fiat to specify whether it intended to reopen a factory in Sicily after a planned year-long stoppage.
Fiat's plans to shutter its plant in Termini Imerese, Sicily, have been a particular sore spot with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right government because the impoverished island is one of its strongest power bases.
"We have asked Fiat to do the utmost to guarantee a more certain future for the workers of Termini Imerese," Welfare Minister Roberto Maroni told parliamentary question time.
Once Europe's biggest carmaker, Fiat plans to lay off 8,100 employees, or about 20 percent of its Italian auto workforce, to cut capacity amid a sales slump.
Termini Imerese's 1,800 workers are due to be out of work from December, and the plant would only reopen if demand picks up.