Workers set fire to some tires in via Rossa, which caused thick black smoke. «Without clear signals from the government we will go on – say the workers – stopping only for the feast of the patron saint of Genoa (San Giovanni, Thursday 24 June, ed) out of respect for the city and because traditions must be respected. But they have to wake up because if the call does not arrive we will return to the prefecture and not with hat in hand but with helmets ».
The anger of the trade unions
«They must tell us – writes Mario Ghini, general secretary of Uil Liguria – if this country, among its development factors, still has the steel industry. We are alongside the former Ilva workers who, once again, have to fight to be able to work. Assemblies, strikes, demonstrations: it is a film that has already been seen to which politics and successive governments have not yet been able to give an adequate ending that meets the needs of the internal and international market ».
According to the trade unionist, “there is the professionalism, there is the demand for steel. However, no solutions have been received from the government, which hesitates. We expect a strong response from the territory that goes in the direction of full employment and full production because we are dying of welfare and Liguria knows something about it. Furthermore, the former Ilva needs resources for indispensable investments in the production chain ».
“After the meeting – writes Christian Venzano, general secretary of Fim Cisl Liguria – it was decided with the workers to demonstrate by starting to block the Guido Rossa, because we want those answers that have been missing for too long and we want them from the Government in its capacity as shareholder of Acciaierie d’Italia ».
Cigo’s request from the company, says Venzano, “it does not reflect the continuous demands of the market and we always hear that the steel industry is strategic for our country, but this cannot remain only in words. We need facts, we need the investments necessary to relaunch the steel industry taking into account employment and production sustainability linked to the environment without forgetting the everyday. The Minister of Labor, Orlando, was supposed to come to the plant about a fortnight ago and we haven’t heard from since. We expect him to make himself heard and speak out on this situation that has arisen ».