Workers from the Italian car maker Fiat protested through the streets of Italy on Friday, after crisis talks between unions and the Italian government failed.

Fiat management met unions and the Italian government on Thursday in an attempt to reach agreement on a controversial restructuring plan that involves cutting 8,100 jobs.

Following the collapse of the talks, debt-laden Fiat said it would begin the first wave of temporary lay-offs of 5,600 workers on Monday.

I feel like 30 years of my life just went down the drain

Salvatore Lo Duca, Fiat employee

Workers reacted angrily to the government's decision not to block the job cuts while analysts said the company needed to do more to rectify its problems.

"Cutting these jobs won't change anything," said Gaetan Toulemonde, an auto analyst at Deutsche Bank.

"What Fiat needs to do is to sell more cars and there aren't enough models in the pipeline to reverse Fiat's revenue losses."

Plan rejected

Talks between unions, management and the government were held at the prime minister's office in Rome to try to find a compromise solution to the downsizing of Italy's biggest private employer.

Italy has special legislation to cope with temporary lay-offs, such as those planned by major companies like Fiat.

What Fiat needs to do is sell more cars and there aren't enough models in the pipeline to reverse Fiat's revenue losses

Gaetan Toulemonde, Deutsche Bank

The government funds up to 80% of the wages and salaries of workers who are made temporarily redundant out of a special national compensation fund.

But the unions fear that the thousands of Fiat workers being laid off will never get their jobs back.

The government told Fiat that it would fund 2,400 permanent job cuts, if the company agreed to change some of its other reform plans.

But unions rejected the proposal and have now called eight hours of strikes against Fiat and warned that there would be more to come.

Protests have blocked roads throughout Italy

Salvatore Lo Duca, who has worked at the group's large Termini Imprese factory in Sicily since 1973, said: "I feel like 30 years of my life just went down the drain."

"All of us here have poured our lives into this company."

Desperate measures

Fiat's car division is in deep financial trouble because of falling demand for cars, not only in Italy, where Fiat no longer enjoys a formally protected market, but also in the rest of Europe.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, one of Italy's most successful and wealthiest businessmen, has been critical about the way Fiat management has handled the crisis in its car making division.

But Fiat argued that under present market conditions it has no alternative but to go ahead with slimming down its workforce.

However, analysts have warned that simply cutting jobs will not solve Fiat's crisis.

"What Fiat needs to do is sell more cars and there aren't enough models in the pipeline to reverse Fiat's revenue losses," said Mr Toulemonde.