Metalworkers unions pressing on the Government for the former Ilva (now Acciaierie d’Italia) for the summit on June 22 at Mise with the company, the Ministry of Labor, the Regions and the unions themselves.
Meeting that comes after the lack of agreement, at Lavoro, on the start from March, and for one year, of the extraordinary redundancy fund for 3 thousand employees and after the two-year extension (agreed at the end of May) of the agreements between Ilva in extraordinary administration, Acciaierie d’Italia, Invitalia and ArcelorMittal (the latter two partners in AdI). Yesterday in Taranto, the general secretaries of Fim, Fiom and Uilm were present, delegates from all over Italy of the former Ilva group arrived. “We don’t want these two years to be a wait, a layoff of the situation. We are worried to see still crises and difficulties, almost degradation, in the sense that the company has no material to be able to work, it is hard to get the plants running and to guarantee safety at work which is fundamental in the steel industry “declares Roberto Benaglia of Fim Cisl . “Government and property decide what they want to do – adds Michele De Palma of Fiom Cgil -. The point is not to waste time. Since ArcelorMittal and Taranto are central to the industrial future of the country, given what is happening in steel, we ask for a table with all the ministries involved, Ecological transition, Labor, Economic development, and a direct meeting with the Prime Minister “. For Rocco Palombella, of Uilm, the iron and steel factory of Taranto is “unrecognizable, completely stopped, the workers want to escape”. And speaking of the hiring of former managers on critical plants, Palombella says: “70-year-old people come here to save the plant but they realize that it can’t be done with 70-year-olds who have already left?”
Very skeptical, the unions say they are targeting 5.7 million tons of steel at the end of the year. “There are only two blast furnaces in operation and in the first half of the year they produced 1.6 million tons” attacks Palombella. And Benaglia: “There is low activity, 5.7 million will not be made, but if we increase production and reduce layoffs, at least we begin to take the right path”. Acciaierie d’Italia meanwhile reiterates that 5.7 million remains the 2022 target. And sources close to the company reiterate that at the end of May the CEO Lucia Morselli, regarding the company’s liquidity situation, stated that, Once the two-year extension has been signed, the new loans will be greatly simplified, in part already approved, with Sace coverage.