The Minister of Economic Development, Giancarlo Giorgetti, has called a meeting for July 27 for the Wärtsilä crisis, the Finnish multinational that in recent days has announced its intention to stop the production of naval engines at the Trieste site. The cessation of the activity will lead, as the company itself explains, to 450 surpluses to be managed among direct employees, in addition to those of the related companies, which number a few hundred. Not only. In the client, among which the name of Fincantieri stands out, there is also the fear that this decision could lead to a production instability, due to the tensions that are underway with the unions that have announced protest actions, some of which are already in course.
So in recent days Fincantieri has expressed its intention to interrupt strategic collaborations for product innovation on green engines with the Finnish company, not believing that it will be able to continue the partnership. The CEO of Fincantieri, Pierroberto Folgiero, in a meeting with the top management of Wärtsilä, held in recent days, also proposed the intention to evaluate all legal, contractual and non-contractual actions, to protect his interests. The reference is to the orders assigned to the Wärtsilä plant in San Dorligo della Valle and to the planned delivery plan. Concern also in the Msc household. Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman of the Cruise Division of the MSC group, explains that he shares “the concerns expressed by the CEO of Fincantieri regarding the possible repercussions that the closure of the Wärtsilä production line in Trieste could generate on the Italian shipbuilding industry. cruise sector and for the MSC group – whose cruise division has important orders at the Monfalcone plant near Trieste for the construction of new ships – the closure of the Wärtsilä plant would be an extremely significant loss “. It is, in fact, a company that «has shown very high professionalism which over the years have contributed to making the entire system of the Italian shipbuilding industry complete and competitive – continues Vago -. Its closure would also involve a dispersion of specialized workers who would be forced to find a different job or even to move abroad, taking their precious know-how elsewhere. We therefore hope that Wärtsilä will have an afterthought on this decision, as it risks compromising the efficiency and value of the shipbuilding system in Italy ».
The Wärtsilä crisis and its repercussions on our productive fabric will be discussed at the meeting at the Ministry of Economic Development with Minister Giorgetti, to whom the crisis structure coordinated by Luca Annibaletti will be present and the Minister of Labor Andrea Orlando, the governor, will be invited of Friuli Venezia Giulia Massimiliano Fedriga, the president and CEO Hakan Agnevall, and the top management of the Finnish group. After announcing the plans relating to the manufacturing activities of Trieste, Wärtsilä explains «that he immediately contacted the Mise. We are therefore delighted to receive this invitation now. We confirm that Wärtsilä is committed to collaborating with trade unions and institutions to find solutions to support our workers, in line with Italian legislation. We are aware of the impact on workers, their families and the entire community and we also confirm the will to respect the new legal procedure and to discuss the possible mitigating effects within the procedure itself “. Finally, Wärtsilä underlines that “Italy and Trieste will remain important for the company with research and development, sales, project management, sourcing, assistance and training activities also in the years to come”.