Protests resume at the Wartsila in Trieste. While the RSU and the metalworkers ‘unions collect the support of Cgil, Cisl and Uil, a workers’ assembly is scheduled on Monday to decide on the 8-hour strike package announced by Fiom, Fim and Uilm, after the black smoke of the meeting at Mise where Wartsila continued his tug-of-war with the Italian government and the social partners, confirming once again the decision to stop production at the Trieste site of San Dorligo della Valle.
In the meeting at Mise, convened by Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, which was attended, among others, by Confindustria Alto Adriatico, the trade unions, the Minister of Labor Andrea Orlando and the Governor of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Massimiliano Fedriga, the company has announced a reindustrialisation plan within the terms and in line with the provisions of Italian legislation, according to a note from the company. The managers said they had identified a specialized advisor, with the aim of mitigating the employment effects linked to the stop in production which involves 451 redundancies, in addition to the impact on the related industries. An announcement that did not, however, convince the social partners at the table.
In the meeting, the Government said it was willing to start a shared debate, but in exchange it asked for a stop in the dismissal procedure, a request on which the social partners at the table made a common front. However, the company has remained steadfast in its position to bring the production of 4-stroke engines for ships back to Finland. An intervention by the Government is expected shortly, which is working on all initiatives, including regulatory ones, to avoid production stops. Minister Giorgetti is working on an amendment to the anti-relocation rule. For her part, the president of the Pd group in the Chamber, Debora Serracchiani, confirms that the road could be “an amendment to make anti-relocation regulations more stringent”. Governor Fedriga adds that “the Region will use the next 30 days to deploy everything in its power to suspend the procedure”. In recent days, the Region presented an urgent appeal to the labor judge of the Tribunal of Trieste challenging two issues: communication and information and constitutional illegitimacy.
Going to see the agenda, the dismissal procedure started on July 14 and has already accounted for 55 days of the 90 planned, as Massimiliano Nobis of the Fim Cisl noted. Hence the request of the Fim Cisl to extend the procedure for another 6 months. From Fiom they expect that at this point the government will translate its position into concrete acts, using all the levers at its disposal. In a joint note, Fiom, Fim and Uilm ask for “an urgent intervention of the parliament to modify Law 234/21 by introducing more effective measures in opposing the nefarious relocations of multinationals”. Meanwhile, the first hearing of the proceedings set up by the provincial Fiom, Fim and Uil against Wartsila for anti-union behavior is expected for 14 September. And in the meantime, Uhl Fusion remains at anchor in the Gulf of Trieste, which should bring the 12 engines expected to South Korea and is asking for authorizations to load the 12 engines expected autonomously.